Nigeria's flag carrier loses its Virginity

       Virgin Nigeria said last week it was changing its name to Nigerian Eagle Airlines, further cutting ties with founder Virgin Atlantic, and was in talks with investors to raise fresh capital.
       The airline, which last month signed a technical partnership with Ethiopian Airlines,"is also planning a private placement within the next six weeks," managing director Dapo Olumide said.
       British billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic has said it is looking to sell its 49% stake in the airline, for which it paid around $25 million in 2005.
       "We have an investment package underway right now and we are going to have a private placement very shortly,"Olumide said.
       "We are talking to other potential investors outside this country and we are in discussions with them at the moment. In fact the CFO just came back from a trip where he had discussions with another country, not another airline,to show you the interest that is at play right now," he said.
       Virgin Nigeria in January suspended its loss-making long haul flights to Britain and South Africa to focus on its domestic and regional operations.
       Industry sources said one of the airline's main financial backers, Nigeria's United Bank for Africa (UBA), had been pushing for it to restructure and reduce losses on the competitive Lagos-London and Lagos-Johannesburg routes.
       An industry executive told Reuters in June that the Virgin name would disappear from Virgin Nigeria and that the newly-branded airlines first priority would be to secure around $30 million in long-term funding.