Virgin Nigeria, the flag carrier of Nigeria, has become the latest airline to opt for the CRIS frequent flyer and customer relationship management solution from Mercator, the IT division of Dubai-based Emirates Group.

Skywards Consultancy Services worked alongside Mercator during the design and implementation phases, revolutionising Virgin Nigeria’s frequent flyer programme, ‘eagleflier’, bringing in a broad range of innovative, appealing and user-friendly new features. Virgin Nigeria’s more regular travellers will be transformed into their most loyal customers.

Yemi Osindero, Chief Operating Officer, Virgin Nigeria, said: “We’re passionate about our customers and we always try our best to give them a quality travel experience whenever they fly with us. We make it our top priority to recognise and appreciate the support of these most loyal customers.”

“Mercator’s CRIS will give us everything we need to make ‘eagleflier’ a truly unique loyalty reward programme. Our customers will enjoy a wide range of benefits, never seen before in this region, and we look forward to building a strong Virgin Nigeria customer family.”

Mercator will host CRIS for Virgin Nigeria at its state-of-the-art twin data centre facilities in Dubai.

Patrick Naef, Head of Mercator and Divisional Senior Vice President IT Emirates Group, said: “Virgin Nigeria is already a customer for our outsourced RAPID revenue accounting solution, and this latest deal for CRIS further cements our relationship. We look forward to working hand in hand with our friends in Nigeria on future projects and to contributing to the airline’s continued success.”

Virgin Nigeria is 49% owned by Virgin Atlantic Airways, with the majority 51% being held by 20 Nigerian institutional investors. Its hub is in Lagos, with services running from Lagos to London and to destinations within Nigeria and West Africa. The network will rapidly expand to cover Europe, the US, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.