IKEJA - The Founder of Virgin Group, Sir Richard Branson, has decried the treatment meted out to Virgin Nigeria at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport urging President Umar Yar’adua to intervene.
Branson stated in a statement made available to newsmen in Ikeja that the forceful relocation of the airline’s domestic operations from the international airport in spite of a court case could send wrong signals to investors.
“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,” Branson wrote.
He stated that the Nigerian government asked Virgin some years ago to set up a national carrier for Nigeria that Nigerians could put their trust in.
“Virgin agreed to help enable this to happen but made it clear that it 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,” Branson stated.
He expressed regret that certain authorities in Nigeria had chosen to ignore the contract and dismantled its domestic lounge.
“The behaviour of the authorities was not what I would have expected from the authorities in Nigeria,” he stated.
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