The Federal Government yesterday grounded the domestic operations of Virgin Nigeria Airways, forcing the national carrier to comply with the government�s directive to move its local operations to the new domestic terminal of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, known as MMA2.
However, the British founder of the Virgin Group, which owns 49 per cent of Virgin Nigeria Airways, Mr. Richard Branson, has expressed worries over the action of the Nigerian government, asking, rhetorically: �If Virgin Nigeria can be treated in this way, can any company in the world seriously consider investing in Nigeria in the future?�
In a press statement signed by the management of Virgin Nigeria, the airline said following the forced closure of its domestic operations at the international wing of MMA, its domestic services would be suspended for yesterday and today but would resume on Thursday at MMA2.
�Our normal flight operations will resume on Thursday, 14 August 2008 from the MMA2 domestic terminal. We wish to apologise for any inconvenience you (passengers) may experience as a result of this suspension,� the airline said in the statement.
However, the airline said its regional operations would continue at the international wing of the airport and its domestic operations would continue at the international wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
�Our regional and international flight operations will however remain at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, while domestic flight operations between Abuja to Kano and Abuja to Sokoto routes will continue as scheduled,� it announced.
Early yesterday, government carried out its earlier decision to shut domestic operations at the international wing of MMA by the midnight of Monday and grounded all Virgin Nigeria�s domestic services from that wing.
Passengers who bought Virgin Nigeria�s tickets for Abuja flight arrived at the terminal early morning only for the airline to refund them their monies.
Disconcerted and confused, many of the passengers rushed back to MMA2 and the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) to see whether they could buy tickets from other airlines.
At that rush hour, there was a remote chance that half of the passengers who were disappointed by the airline could be lucky to book seats in other airlines.
THISDAY learnt that Aero Contractors had, by mid-day yesterday, stopped selling tickets for passengers going to Abuja from Lagos because its flights were fully booked.
Other domestic airlines, including Arik Air, had the same experience and but it is expected that the passenger surge and scramble for aircraft seats would ease when Virgin Nigeria begins operation by Thursday.
Virgin had not complied with government directive to relocate three times since last year when the MMA2 was opened for operation.
The airline had always insisted it had Memorandum of Understanding with the Federal Government to use the international terminal of MMA for its domestic operations.
Also last year, Virgin Nigeria took the government to court, praying that it should be barred from forcing it to MMA2.
The case is still at the Appeal Court and Virgin Nigeria had earlier insisted that unless the case was determined on October 17 it would not move to MMA2, hinging its position on the rule of law.
Yesterday, Branson, in a statement made available to newsmen, expressed dismay over government�s directive and recalled that one of the conditions given before Virgin invested in the airline was that the airline would operate its domestic and international services from the international terminal of the Murtala Muhammed Airport.
“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 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,� he explained.
He said that to his disappointment Nigeria had decided to ignore this clause and had sent some people to smash Virgin Nigeria�s domestic lounge sometime ago in the attempt to intimidate the airline.
�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,� he said.
Branson, who disclosed in a May 19 edition of the Time magazine that problems he had with the Nigerian government while setting up the Virgin Nigeria contributed to the Virgin Group incurring $82 million loss last year, noted that the behaviour of the authorities (government) �was not what I would have expected from the authorities in Nigeria.�
He added that last Monday, �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?�
Branson therefore urged President Umaru Musa Yar�Adua 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�.
Meanwhile, the Senate Aviation Committee said it would take the opportunity of tomorrow�s meeting with the Ministry of Transportation and Virgin Nigeria Airline on the issue of the directive relocating the airline�s local flights to the domestic wing.
The Committee said that the Managing Director of Virgin Nigeria had been invited for the meeting.
Aug132008