Posted by By Simon Ateba on
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson, Britain's business magnate and owner of 49 percent stake in Virgin Nigeria Airways, has threatened to pull out of the deal as the Federal Government insisted that the airline must relocate from the Murtala Muhammed international airport to the new domestic terminal, known as MMA2.
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson, Britain's business magnate and owner of 49 percent stake in Virgin Nigeria Airways, has threatened to pull out of the deal as the Federal Government insisted that the airline must relocate from the Murtala Muhammed international airport to the new domestic terminal, known as MMA2.
PM.News learnt yesterday that the 236th richest person on earth, according to Forbes'2008 list of billionaires, has disclosed to his associates that he may pull out if the agreement it signed with the Federal Government when flagging off Virgin Nigeria is not respected.
In a statement yesterday, Branson, owner of Virgin brand of over 360 companies, said that he warned the Federal Government that he would only invest considerable sums in Nigeria under certain strict criteria.
One of them, he said, was the ability to operate domestic and international flights out of the same terminal which, according to him, is the only way a flag carrier of any country can operate.
Also in a statement yesterday, Branson said, 'the Nigerian Government asked Virgin some years ago to set up a national carrier for Nigeria that Nigerians could put their trust in and be proud of. Virgin agreed to help enable this to happen but made it clear that they would only invest considerable sums in Nigeria under certain strict criteria. One of those was the ability to operate domestic and international flights out of the same terminal which is the only way a flag carrier of any country can operate.
'To my utter dismay, certain authorities in Nigeria have chosen to ignore our contract, sending in heavies a few months ago to smash up our domestic lounge with sledgehammers, in an attempt to intimidate the airline. The behaviour of the authorities was not what I would have expected from the authorities in Nigeria. Yesterday the authorities behaved in a similar fashion, despite a court case being imminent, by sending in the heavies yet again to dismantle our domestic check-in. If Virgin Nigeria can be treated in this way, can any company in the world seriously consider investing in Nigeria in the future?
'I urge the President of Nigeria and the authorities concerned to honour their contract and enable Virgin Nigeria to resume flying domestically with immediate effect, giving the service to their passengers that they've come to rely on and expect.'
The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, on Monday, stopped all domestic operations of Virgin Nigeria from the international wing of the Lagos airport. Consequently, the airline issued a statement that its domestic flights have been suspended. Virgin Nigeria said that its domestic flights will resume on Thrusday. The Federal Government has said that it was suspending an agreement it signed with the airline based on national security.