{"id":70269,"date":"2025-07-11T10:38:43","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T10:38:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=70269"},"modified":"2025-07-11T10:38:43","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T10:38:43","slug":"valuejet-opens-direct-lagos-banjul-route-boosts-regional-tourism-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2025\/07\/11\/valuejet-opens-direct-lagos-banjul-route-boosts-regional-tourism-trade\/","title":{"rendered":"ValueJet Opens Direct Lagos-Banjul Route, Boosts Regional Tourism, Trade"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Our Correspondent\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Nigerian airline, ValueJet, has launched a direct flight service from Lagos to Banjul, the capital of The Gambia, in a move expected to deepen regional connectivity and promote tourism and economic exchange within West Africa.<\/p>\n<p>The new route, which began operations on May 15, 2025, offers passengers a twice-weekly service connecting Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, with Banjul International Airport.<\/p>\n<p>The service departs Lagos at 9:00 PM every Thursday and Sunday, arriving in Banjul at 11:30 PM local time, while return flights depart Banjul at 12:30 AM on Mondays and Fridays, landing in Lagos by 5:00 AM.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on the development, Capt. Omololu Majekodunmi, Managing Director and Accountable Manager of ValueJet, described the new route as a strategic step in promoting regional integration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Lagos to Banjul flight is an important milestone in ValueJet\u2019s vision to expand travel options and strengthen economic ties within West Africa.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It opens new opportunities for tourism, trade, and cultural exchange between Nigeria, The Gambia, and beyond,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>With Banjul widely regarded as one of West Africa\u2019s hidden tourist destinations, the direct connection is expected to attract Nigerian leisure travellers, entrepreneurs, and business executives looking to explore the Gambia\u2019s beaches, markets, and investment potential.<\/p>\n<p>The route also positions ValueJet as the only airline currently offering nonstop commercial service between Nigeria and The Gambia, giving it a unique advantage in a competitive regional aviation market.<\/p>\n<p>Industry analysts have welcomed the move, noting that the availability of direct, affordable flights can significantly boost intra-African tourism and ease business mobility across the continent.<\/p>\n<p>According to ValueJet, the flights will be operated using its Boeing fleet, with a focus on offering reliable, budget-friendly service tailored to the needs of both first-time and frequent flyers.<\/p>\n<p>Passengers can now book tickets via the airline\u2019s official website, www.flyvaluejet.com.<\/p>\n<p>The launch of the Lagos-Banjul route aligns with broader efforts by West African governments and private sector players to reduce travel bottlenecks, promote regional integration, and stimulate cross-border economic activity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Our Correspondent\u00a0 Nigerian airline, ValueJet, has launched a direct flight service from Lagos to Banjul, the capital of The Gambia, in a move expected to deepen regional connectivity and promote tourism and economic exchange within West Africa. The new route, which began operations on May 15, 2025, offers passengers a twice-weekly service connecting Murtala [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":70270,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-70269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70269"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70271,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70269\/revisions\/70271"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}