LAGOS // Seated between the majority Nigerian passengers on Etihad Airways' launch flight between Abu Dhabi and Lagos was a smattering of Chinese businessmen hoping to seal deals in Africa's most populous nation.
Burgeoning links between two of the globe's foremost emerging markets were among the reasons the Abu Dhabi carrier this week joined its Arabian Gulf rivals, Emirates Airline and Qatar Airways, in servicing Nigeria's commercial capital.
"There's a major Chinese investment in Africa creating passenger demand in both directions and at the same time as building our presence in Africa we are doing so in China, growing our balanced network over Abu Dhabi, making use of our ideal geographic location between East and West," said Peter Baumgartner, Etihad's chief commercial officer.
Chinese investment in Nigeria is estimated to have reached US$8.4 billion (Dh30.86bn) last year, according to data from China's government. Much of that went into oil and gas, telecommunications, power and agriculture. Trade between the two nations rose 40 per cent from the year before to reach $10.7bn last year.
The UAE carrier aims to mop up some of the surging flow of business with its six flights a week service between the two cities.
Lagos is also a key destination for Emirates, which has been operating flights since 2004. Currently, it operates a twice-daily service from Dubai.
Qatar has been flying to Lagos since 2007.
"The route continues to see strong demand from the corporate sector within the UAE, and we see no signs of this demand abating," said Khalid Bel Jaflah, Emirates' vice president of commercial sales in the UAE.
Mr Bel Jaflah's comments are a reflection that the UAE-Lagos route is not only a transit route for Chinese business people.
From Etisalat's telecoms operations in the country to the growing number of Nigerian traders and tourists visiting Dubai, ties between the two countries are growing. Several thousand Nigerians are estimated to live in the UAE.
"The operations of Etihad and Emirates should help to boost exports and tourism flows between the two countries," said Ibrahim Auwalu, the Nigerian ambassador to the UAE.
Etihad is also considering launching flights to Abuja, Nigeria's capital. As yet, none of the big three in the region fly to Abuja.
For now, Etihad has reached an understanding with the Nigerian airline Arik Air, which operates between Lagos and Abuja, involving both airlines helping to attract passengers on to each other's flights.
Mr Baumgartner said a "few technicalities" existed before the relationship could be raised to a codeshare agreement.
In homage to Nigeria's passion for football, Etihad launched its Lagos service with its sky-blue A330-200 aircraft painted in Manchester City's colours. The airline hopes that brand awareness gained through its association with the English Premier League champions will help to raise interest in the service.
Lagos forms part of Etihad's expanding foothold in the African market. It offers flights to Cairo, Casablanca, Johannesburg, Khartoum, Nairobi and Tripoli. From November, it will add the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, to its network.
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