Nigerian music, dance and snacks will greet passengers embarking Wednesday on the first scheduled daily flight between Houston and Africa. A Continental Airlines flight connecting the two energy centers of Houston and Lagos, Nigeria, takes off Wednesday night from Bush Intercontinental Airport. Delta Air Lines flies daily from its Atlanta hub to Lagos, but Houston's large Nigerian community and energy companies that operate in the African nation have long sought nonstop service from Houston. 'Long time coming' "I think it's been a long time coming," said Kase Lawal, a Nigerian native who heads Houston-based Camac International Corp., which has offices in Nigeria. He says that he and his workers often must fly through European cities to reach Lagos. He's eager to take the new flight from Houston to visit his home country. Flying times are about 11 hours, 35 minutes eastbound and 13 hours, 20 minutes westbound. The westbound flight will include Nigerian cuisine options for passengers. Flat-bed seats Continental's Flight 142 departs Bush Intercontinental at 7:05 p.m. and arrives at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos at 1:40 p.m. local time the next day. On the return, Flight 143 departs Lagos at 11:05 p.m. and arrives in Houston at 5:25 a.m. the next day. The flights will use Boeing 777 aircraft with 276 seats - 50 in BusinessFirst and 226 in economy. The 777 aircraft feature new, flat-bed seats in the BusinessFirst cabin. Continental had planned to fly Boeing's 787 Dreamliner to Lagos and Auckland, New Zealand, this year. But because of production delays, Continental won't receive its first 787 until next year. Airline officials decided to postpone the Auckland service and fly the 777 aircraft to Lagos until the Dreamliner is delivered. Continental and United Airlines each have ordered 25 of the new planes. The two carriers merged last year but operate as subsidiaries of United Continental Holdings until the Federal Aviation Administration issues them a single operating certificate.