NIGERIA’S state carrier has agreed a three-month extension of its current joint venture accord with British Airways for the operation of the Lagos-London route. The debt-ridden and near-bankrupt Nigeria Airways sought the help of British Airways to run the lucrative Lagos-London route on daily basis in 1998, but there had been moves by the Nigerian government to ditch the pact altogether, with Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic seen as a possible replacement for BA. Nigerian officials linked this to a reduction in the seats allocated after British Airways introduced a new aircraft, Boeing 777, on the Lagos-London route. Under the existing deal, Nigeria Airways was 80 seats on the Boeing 747 jetliners previously deployed, but with the 777, they would get only 56 seats. – Reuters