For reasons not yet known, British carrier, Virgin Atlantic Airways has blocked its passengers travelling from Nigeria from buying and paying for their tickets on the airline's website.

A message on the airline's website reads "The way you make a booking originating from Nigeria, Lagos has changed. Customers wishing to book flights with us that are originating from Lagos will not be able to book via our website, you'll need to contact us directly to do so. Please contact us directly if you want to book flights originating from Lagos, Nigeria. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause."

An attempt to buy and pay for a ticket on their website proved abortive with a message saying "Any flights departing from Lagos cannot be booked online. Please call our contact center to make your booking".

The Airline did not respond to a tweet by The Afritraveller inquiring why the development became necessary.

Meanwhile, the airline has just marked its 16 years of flying between Lagos and London with a surprise party for its customers both on ground, at Lagos airport and at 30,000 feet in the sky.

Virgin Nigeria began flying to Lagos in 2001 and has carried around 3 million customers since then. It currently operates one daily flight between Lagos and London Heathrow using an Airbus A340-600 aircraft.