Posted by Punch Nigeria on
Virgin Nigeria on Wednesday said it was unable to airlift Nigerian pilgrims for the Umrah over the weekend in Kano because of its inability to obtain landing slots from the Saudi aviation authorities.
Virgin Nigeria on Wednesday said it was unable to airlift Nigerian pilgrims for the Umrah over the weekend in Kano because of its inability to obtain landing slots from the Saudi aviation authorities.
The airline in a statement said the Saudi authorities requested for a fresh submission of papers, which it had already filed with the authority and duly acknowledged.
Chief Executive Officer of the airline, Mr. Conrad Clifford, described the development as a surprise.
"It was a surprise to us when at the eleventh hour we were asked to re-submit documents which we had earlier filed with the Saudi authorities which were acknowledged by them and despite the fact that Virgin Nigeria has been duly designated on the route by the Federal Government of Nigeria", he said.
He said in preparation for the umrah, the airline had sourced for a modern state of the art Boeing 767-300 and crew members had been on ground at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano since September 30.
"It is ironic that we have the aircraft, the crew and the government approvals to operate and yet we are being blocked at every turn. We feel perplexed and very disappointed over this turn of events as all attempts to resolve the issue with the Saudi authorities have not produced any positive result to date," he added.
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