Virgin Nigeria Vs Federal Govt Of Nigeria Et Al

[18left]

31 January 08 COURT RESTRAINS FEDERAL AIRPORTS AUTHORITY OF NIGERIA (FAAN) FROM RELOCATING VIRGIN NIGERIA’S DOMESTIC OPERATIONS TO MURTALA MOHAMMED AIRPORT DOMESTIC TERMINAL 2 Lagos, Nigeria: 31 January 2008: The Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos has today restrained the Federal Ministry of Transportation (Aviation) and other relevant Agencies including the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) from forcefully relocating Virgin Nigeria’s domestic operations pending the determination on notice of the order brought before his court.

The case came up for hearing as Virgin Nigeria raised concerns over the violation of the fundamental basis of its formation which is creating a hub in Lagos as stipulated by the Federal Ministry of Aviation (on behalf of the FGN ) and its technical Partners.
Another key concern presented to the judge by Virgin Nigeria over the proposed relocation is the safety operational status of the Murtala Mohammed Airport domestic terminal 2. Granting the exparte order, Justice Ibrahim Auta of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi refered to the Memorandum of Mutual undertaking (MMU) which recognises that Virgin Nigeria has a legal right to carry out domestic, regional and international flight operations from its hub at Murtala Mohammed International Airport.

He also cited the IATA report of November 7th 2007 which rated the MM2 as falling below operational safety standards.

Virgin Nigeria’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Conrad Clifford while reacting to the unwarranted attitude of FAAN over the use of armed security Agents to demolish Virgin Nigeria’s domestic business class lounge said that it is unfortunate that relevant authorities have turned a deaf ear to the MMU as well as safety concerns by embarking on forceful ejection of Virgin Nigeria’s domestic operations.

“Virgin Nigeria is committed to continually offer safe flight operations and we will not accede to intimidation to compromise standards”, said Conrad Clifford.

It is instructive to note that one of the concerns raised by the IATA team was the size of the apron being relatively too small for the proposed scale of operations amongst other key safety operational issues.



Dear All,

As you may or may not be aware, we were served notice by the NCAA a week ago that we would have to move our domestic flights from MMIA to the new Domestic terminal MM2 by midnight tonight.

In the interim, we attempted unsuccessfully to engage the parastatals in discussion on this. Last night our domestic business class lounge was demolished.

As a result we were forced to seek protection from the courts and have today received a High Court injunction restraining any further action to move us to MM2 or to prevent us from operating at MMIA until a High Court hearing takes place to establish the legality of the initial directive from NCAA.

We are therefore assuming that barring any illegal actions by the parastatals, we will operate our normal schedules tomorrow, albeit we no longer have a Business Class Lounge for the comfort of our premium passengers. Based upon legal advice, we also believe that we will continue to enjoy the right to operate all flights from MMIA unhindered as originally set out in the MMU (Mutual Memorandum of Undertaking) with the FGN under which Virgin Nigeria was established.

We expect there to be a High Court hearing which will underline the rights that were granted to Virgin Nigeria in this respect.


Some of you may ask, why not simply move to MM2?

Strategically, we cannot operate an effective hub from two home bases, that’s why FGN granted us this right in the first place!

Secondly, based on our current assessment, supported by an IATA Audit Report conducted in November 2007, MM2 is not able to accommodate the monopoly of all domestic airline operations that was granted under its concession. The deficiencies would have a negative impact on safety, security, passenger comfort and operational viability were we to move there.

And finally, were we forced to operate from MM2 we would have to scale down from our current level of operation with all the contingent negative impacts on profitability and the growth aspirations for the airline.


Aviation in Nigeria has been through a massive change for the better ever since we started operations. A move such as this would undo much of the progress that has been made by all of those engaged in aviation in Nigeria thus far: the parastatals, the Airlines and the Regulators.

Our Chairman and Board of Directors are confident that the legal process which FGN supports will see that good sense, reason and fairness will prevail.

I’d like to express our appreciation to our staff in Nigeria and particularly at MMIA for your steadfastness and loyalty in the face of baffling behaviour by some of our good friends in the industry.

With Best regards

Conrad

[jagunmolu]

WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD DEAR CON-RED I WISH YOU AND YOURS A HAPPY WAR ON THIS ISSUES, I REALLY HOPE YOU WIN AGAINST THE GOVT OF NIGERIA,THE WAY A TRULY NIGERIAN CARRIER WILL DEFINITELY WIN AGAINST ONE THAT IS (TRULY) YOURS.METHINKS THAT YOU DONT CHANGE THE RULES IN MIDDLE OF THE GAME.A RULE THAT WE ALL ARE WONT TO FORGET,I SINCERELY WISH YOU ALL THE BEST IN THESE TRYING TIMES ALUTA CONTINUA,WHAT GOES AROUND COMES SURELY AROUND ARIVEDECI:ugh::ugh::ugh::ouch::ouch:

[Rani]

18Left,

Indeed, common sense and the rule of law shall prevail. I have 2 questions:

1- Can we expect VK to sue for compensation for the damaged property and all lost revenue caused by the illegal actions of FAAN?

2- Doesn't Bi-Courtney also have a legal document (BoT contract) with FGN stipulating it has the exclusive rights to accomdate domestic traffic? As I understood, BC has the right to park client aircraft remotely in the GAT ramp, and is working to expand its own ramp.

Good luck to you and VK. I also agree that VK helped initiate real aviation reforms. :ok:

PS. What do you think about below Bi-Courtney press release?

MMA2 Meets All Standards

Operators of the Murtala Mohammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2), Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited have described as false, misleading and damaging, the report credited to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) that the new terminal is inadequate.The company, in a swift reaction, said that there has never been an inspection of its facility by the international aviation body or its representative and therefore there couldn’t have been any basis for a report. Speaking, the managing director, Alex Van Elk, said that the terminal has been audited four times by the aviation regulatory bodies in Nigeria, including, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). The bodies were satisfied with the operational and safety standards of the facilities including the apron which was designed according to IATA specifications. These inspections led to the signing of a Memorandum of Association (MOU) between Bi-Courtney and FAAN, following which, operations commenced at the airport.The airport was built under the Public-Private Partnership arrangement which required huge investments by Bi-Courtney Limited, a Nigerian company driving the Nigerian economy through the provision of world class infrastructure.Bi-Courtney Aviation Services is committed to ensuring first class facilities and services to airport users in line with their vision and mission to transform Lagos into a hub for Africa.

[MamaPut]

Ah yes, Arthur von Moose, well-known former Damaging Director of Arik Wings, another company of impeccable pedigree with sound finance which has never been linked to any financial impropriety involving former governors or sons of high ranking government figures :}

[imustbemad]

This must make Balewa so proud. Another post for him to print and take to his mates at civil aviation

[seper]

I still dont understand why we try so hard to destroy good things!
I dont know of any hub in the world that has zero facilities for transfer passengers,even accra next door has a very efficient transfer system.
Gentlemen its all about the passengers,those who airports were built for and pay our salaries including those of FAAN.
Why cant we rise above personal gra gra and do whats best in the interest of all?
Who here would like to travel with his family arrive MMA2 with six suitcases and negotiate a taxi to catch BA at 9pm at night at international?is that what BA will do to connect to aberdeen out of heathrow?
Lets see what president rule of law will do,after all it was clearly stated in the agreement
The whole world is watching how we treat foreign investors who dont drop.........,and so is virgin atlantic, who has influenece on the U.K govt,afterall branson was with gordon on his way to asia,so for those who want a third carrier to the U.K.............................. continue to harass VK
what goes around will come around

[chuks]

Am I reading this right? You come into Domestic to catch an international flight and you have to collect your bags, get a taxi, head around the airport perimeter, go through the toll gates and run the gauntlet at International Departures? That sounds like fun! It shall be like unto arriving at Heathrow and heading off to Gatwick on the M25, squared or cubed.

I had been watching the fun as they built that domestic terminal, wondering to myself what fresh hell would erupt once it was put into operation and now I think I know.

[surely not]

It isn't just the passengers that will be affected, though that in itself is good reason enough to abandon the stupid idea.

Many of the aircraft operate in Domestic and out International. At present the aircraft stays where it is and there is no disruption to the operation.
Under the ridiculous proposals of FAAN if the aircraft arrives in Domestic to depart International then the passengers are either
1. to make their own way airside to landside, then surface transport on the congested roads between the two terminals.
2. an aiside road for company buses between the two terminals to allow airside transfer between the two points thereby reducing the exposure to the normal roads congestion and dodgy taxis

Of course nothing has been planned, let alone provided for option 2!!!!

So A/c utilisation will have to be re-planned and become less efficient as they split effectively into two fleets, one for Domestic operations and one for International.

The whole idea is a nonsense and against every legally agreed promise made to VK at its inception.

Have Arik also been told to move out of the International terminal?

[Skylion]

When will VK decide that enough is enough and throw in the towel?

[MamaPut]

I hope Virgin don't throw in the towel unless FAAN come up with a sensible solution to move transfer passengers securely inside the airport perimeter in shuttle buses as suggested by Surely Not.

SN, Arik have already agreed to move, but don't know if they have yet as they were still in International terminal 3 weeks ago. I wonder if that's related to Van Elk having been MD of Arik?

Chanchangi didn't seem too impressed with the new terminal and withdrew from there due to what it termed "unnecessary bills".

Captain Daniel Omale's article in today's Leadership newspaper is a fair summary of the state of affairs:

Leadership - Airline Operators of Nigeria Baseless Threat (http://www.leadershipnigeria.com/product_info.php?products_id=13577&osCsid=9e7ee5be7a1fab1a484464d48805a290)



Airline Operators Of Nigeria’s Baseless Argument/Threat


Airline operators of Nigeria (AON), last week, called on the federal government to immediately order Arik Air and Virgin Nigeria out of the international wing of Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos, attributing the incessant drug trafficking cases at the airport to the lumping of both the international and domestic flights at the international wing of the airport. AON also threatened to sanction any member airline that does not operate from the new domestic terminal, MMA2, run by Bi-Courtney Aviation Services. The chairman of the organization, Dr Steve Mahonwu, is either ignorant of the principles of airline business, or the principles of economics.

The main objective of running any business is to make profit; period. If MMA2 run by Bi-Courtney Aviation Services is more expensive than the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria’s (FAAN) terminals, then the airlines have the choice of what is more profitable for their business. This country operates on the economic of free enterprise, scarcity and choice and demand and supply. If Bi-Courtney Aviation Services has the best product for the airlines, at the most affordable price, then it is the responsibility of Bi-Courtney to sell themselves to the airlines and not AON to order any airline to use MMA2.

Secondly, operating both domestic and international flights from one airport cannot be the catalyst for drug trafficking. 99% of all the airports in the World today operate both local and international flights from one terminal building. If we are indisciplined as Nigerians and cocaine smuggling has now re-surfaced at our airports, then, we must question ourselves as to why the re-occurrence and what is the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) doing to curtail the situation?

The airlines have the choice of patronizing either FAAN or Bi-Courtney, which ever they find cheaper and conducive for their passengers. The passengers on the other hand have choices of airlines to fly with regard to airfare, terminal and boarding services. If an airline chooses to use MMA2, which is more expensive than London Heathrow (as insinuated by Arik Airline MD) and the airline can keep its business profitable, then it is the absolute right of the airline to patronize Bi-Courtney terminal.

What we are advocating for in airline business, which is still highly regulated, is pure de-regulation, without any form of government intervention or obstruction, except in the areas of safety, international relations and defense.

It is an irony that AON has just noticed that the past government of Obasanjo favoured Virgin Nigeria over other airlines during their entrance into our market. What has AON done since Kema Chikwe’s regime when all the airlines with airplanes above 22 years old were banned from operating without any grace period? AON’s argument is baseless, illegal and empty. AON as an organization needs to be cohesive and un-individualistic. If a member airline is undergoing unnecessary pressure from the NCAA or other government agencies today, members turn their heads the other way, leaving that airline to suffer the consequences, alone. What is the chairman of AON’s interest in forcing our airlines to patronize Bi-Courtney terminal? If MMA2 is affordable for the airlines, patronage cannot be a problems for the terminal will sell itself.

With due respect to Wale Babalakin, who has invested so much to develop the terminal to international standard for passengers comfort, we all support this laudable project, but it must be devoid of any unwarranted intimidation.

The former General Manager (legal) of FAAN, Yomi Oyelola was sacked by Fani- Kayode, the then minister of aviation, when Oyelola explained the illegality of extending the build Operate and transfer (BOT) contract of Bi-Courtney Aviation Services with FAAN. The original contract was for 15 years, it was later changed to 20 years and now extended to 36 years. To me, this is very sad, as the GM did nothing wrong by opposing the alterations of the contract. If Nigerians are not free to express their views, especially, as it regards their official responsibilities, then we are not yet ready to run a nation. The General Manager, for posterity, must be recalled to explain his own version on the issue, if we are to practice justice in this country.

Airlines in this country have the right to use any terminal of their choice; the only deciders are the passengers, who pay the bills, and not AON.

Competition is the name of the game. Let FAAN and Bi-Courtney compete for the patronage of the airlines with good rates and services. The choice is theirs and not AON.

It is more encouraging for airline operators of Nigeria to sanction any member that deviates from safety practices such as standard training for their crews, bi-annual Cockpit Resource Management (CRM) for their pilots and poor maintenance of their aircraft. The unfortunate thing about the airline industry in Nigeria is that, most airline owners are business people who lack basic knowledge of the industry, but find it hard to trust and utilize the knowledge of their employees.

MMA2 operated by Bi-Courtney Aviation Services does not in any way constitute a safer flight operational standard, but may render better passenger services that can only be ascertained by both the lessee and those they intend to serve. By and large, the price must be acceptable to those wishing to engage in business with MMA2. If Bi-Courtney cannot attract customers for their business, it is not AON’s duty to coerce its members.

FAAN held the monopoly of airport and terminal services in the past, but with MMA2 run by a private company, airlines should expect better services from FAAN and competitive prices from Bi-Courtney. If the lease rate of the new terminal run by a private company is too high for individual airline, the choice of staying with FAAN or using FAAN terminals, solely rest with the airline. This is the choice that arises out of competition. We need more private interests in running our airports to improve services and lower lease rates for the airlines, which will be transferred to the passengers.

The combination of both AON and Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to foster safety initiatives will definitely improve flight safety in aviation industry in Nigeria.

The greatest setbacks in aviation industry in our country are in areas of aircraft maintenance and engineering, and manpower shortage.

Maintenance is a 24-7 function that requires careful organization, tight control, diligent oversight and robust quality assurance. Airlines have instituted comprehensive oversight systems to ensure that aircraft are maintained properly in accordance with FAA regulations and manufacturers standards. In addition to FAA oversight, air carriers generally maintain their own on-site staff at their major maintenance-provider locations to continually monitor performance and quality.

Airline operation is a fragile and capital intensive business; AON should focus more on serious issues like safety and manpower development than soliciting patronage for someone else’s business.

[JABAG]

Just FYI,
MMA2 has been approved for the processing of regional passengers. i.e, customs and immigration and NDLEA have opened up facilities at the airport. MMIA will be reserved for the intercontinental flights.
its not the best but you need to get all the airlines on a level playing field. What we need to push for is to have a transfer link within the perimeeter of the airport btw MMA2 and MMIA. this way the passengers remain airside.
thats been taled about but will be along time coming.
The other down side is going to tbe the traffic on the access road to MMA2
:hmm:

[surely not]

MMA2 is too small already for the flights at peak times. The apron area is way too small and as such it is ridiculous to be forcing yet more aircraft over there.

AON has never represented VK in a fair and just manner, despite I believe VK paying its dues to the organisation. Instead it has continued to espouse the half truths and outright lies of some of its other members who are threatened by the International standards that VK has brought to Nigerian Aviation.

AON has no remit to try to force it's members to relocate, especially when those members have good reasons not to move. It should be representing their views with the authorities.

VK has spent considerable sums of Naiara to demolish and rebulid areas of MMIA for its passengers comfort and ease of travel. It is amazing that FAAN can without any apparent censure destroy part of this overnight with armed police support!!!

Where is the negotiated settlement with VK to compensate them for the wrecking of their business plan and destruction of their property?

Best wishes to Conrad and his team, I hope they reach a successful outcome.

[AVSEC]

I dont know how this will work.
Already we hear bicourtney is unable to provide sufficient terminal passes for the three airlines operating out of MMA2.
we hear they have started issuing temporary passes,and are threatening users of those temporary passes for having them.
We understand some airline personnel have been detained in confined areas for as much as three hours,because they have only been issued temporary passes in MMA2 by FAAN officers, even though FAAN and bicourtney officials are aware they are bonafide authourised operational personnel.
No recourse to a lawyer,police not involved,and this is unacceptable.

Private sector participation is supposed to lure investors,not force them kicking and screaming into a forced contractual agreement.

How will they cope with VK and Arik personnel that number in the hundreds if they cannot cope with what they are presently trying to manage?
Does it make sense to populate key management positions with ex civil servants, and not expect beureaucracy gone mad mentality to be the order of the day,which now appears to be the norm within MMA2.

Chaichangi found their charges unreasonable and relocated operations to old domestic airport.

premium car park which gives direct access to the terminal cordoned off from use,for lack of receipts at automatic barrier access control system.

preboarded area has a low standard catering facility with empty office spaces so over priced no company with responsible financial outlook can consider leasing them.
No internet wireless facilities for travellers,insufficient power points for todays business traveller who has to energise phones and laptops.

Why the denial of the IATA report or observation on the terminal?
Any lay man can see that the terminal is not properly constructed with finishing improperly done in many parts of the terminal.

They need to get their act together now,or they will find failure just around the corner.

[soggyboxers]

Richard Barnson has become personally involved in the MMA2 fiasco and has written personally to President Yar'Adua:

Virgin Group President, Richard Branson, has written to President Umaru Yar’Adua to intervene in the directive to eject Virgin Nigeria from its operational base at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos.

Branson said the order violates the article of formation of the flag carrier signed by representatives of the government and himself.

The letter, dated January 30, sought the intervention of Yar’Adua as it would be counter productive for Virgin Nigeria to operate from the Murtala Mohammed Airport 2 terminal as now directed by the authorities.

"The directive to split Virgin Nigeria’s domestic operations from its regional and international operations will put the achievements of the airline at risk as the ability for Virgin Nigeria to operate all services out of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport is a core condition of the Memorandum of Mutual Undertaking (MMU) which is the basis of the set up of the airline," Branson stated.

He noted that operating from one terminal is an absolute requirement for any national airline hoping to create an effective hub that will enable it to compete effectively on the world stage.

Virgin Nigeria was incorporated in Nigeria following the signing of a Memorandum of Mutual Undertaking (MMU) between the government and Virgin Atlantic Airways on 28 September 2004 to set up a flag carrier.

Last week, Virgin Nigeria secured an order from the Federal High Court in Lagos restraining aviation agencies of the Ministry of Transport from relocating its local operations to the domestic terminal of the airport.

But the airline cited safety concerns in its resistance to the order.

[Dotun]

Quote From Thisday Newspaper
"
The concern about space and safety issues expres-sed by Virgin Nigeria on the new domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed Interna-tional Airport, Lagos, are being addressed by the Federal Government, THISDAY has learnt.
Following last week’s directive by the Federal Government that Arik Air and Virgin Nigeria should move their domestic operations from the international wing of the airport to MM2, the new domestic terminal, Virgin Nigeria had secured an order from the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, retraining the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) from forcing it out of the international terminal.
The national carrier complained that it was a violation of its fundamental basis of its formation, “which is creating a hub in Lagos as stipulated by the Federal Ministry of Aviation and its technical partners”, while also alleging that an International Air Transport Association (IATA) report has not given MM2 “safety operational status”.
However, the Director-General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr Harold Demuren, has told THISDAY that there are plans to expand the new terminal in order to accommodate all the airlines and address the issue of space constraint, adding that the terminal currently has six aprons.
The NCAA building, he said, would be demolished to create more space for the terminal, while the whole General Aviation Terminal (GAT) – which is primarily for private operations – would also be made part of the terminal.
“At the end, it would be large enough to accommodate both existing and future airlines in the country,” he said.
On the IATA report, which Virgin Nigeria is referring to in its newspaper adverts, Demuren asked the public to be cautious in alluding to it “because its authenticity is questionable”.
He said: “We have to be very careful about that. “IATA very soon will make a statement. We should be very careful about that. It is very contentious. There was a report like that but it is very contentious. A lot of people believe that the report is suspicious. So we need to wait. It will soon be settled. But you have to understand one thing: IATA is talking of the level of operation that will take place there. That is, if all the airlines move to the place as it is now, it will become unsafe.”
He also cautioned against frustrating Bi-Courtney Aviation Services, operators of MM2, which is the first public-private partnership project successfully executed in the industry, remarking that it was the same government that signed the memorandum of understanding with Virgin Nigeria that also signed an agreement for the building of the terminal – and it is also the same government that asked the airline to move its domestic operations to the domestic terminal.
“There was no GAT before. The airport was burnt; government or Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) could not raise money to build another one, and this private investor built one. That is what we have to understand. They have to recover their investment. That’s how we came into the agreement. You have to understand that they invested so much money into that place so they have to recover their money. If not, Nigeria, this industry, will never have PPP again and it is very important that it should be encouraged. PPP is a great idea. It is a way to go. It is a great opportunity and if we miss it, it is going to affect development in this country,” Demuren said, expressing the hope that there would be an amicable settlement of the problem. "

Regards
DMan

[BALEWA]

International Wing, Domestic Wing and then there's the all mighty Ramp Area (always been my favourite, still is) hmmm :rolleyes:

Now the Runway's, yes lets not forget the runway's ............ they call 18L the local runway and then 18R the international runway (even the controllers themselves say the same thing) just baffles me :rolleyes:

And finally the all new domestic wing, big deal, took a quick tour and left with a smirk and not the least surprised about what I saw, once again Nigerians and the world have been taked for a ride, na wetin una call that place again MMA2 :} ......UNA TRY!!!

Well have fun, deliberate and make good judgement amongst yourselves, and no fighting now, as for me, its back to the beach house, its getting cold here, might just stop at Taco Bell's drive through for a bite. :)

Balewa " on holiday"

[atedo]

Demuren I tot should be independent and act as a regulator. He is already taking sides.:D

Airports are built considering safety (of passengers, service equipment, aircraft and personnel), passenger convenience (transit in particular) and profitability.

All these is not being addressed by NCAA. They are sacrifing there building now to expand apron?:rolleyes:

The real people behind bicourtney have not shown face, selfish interest is the issue here. MMA2 does not help the growing industry in 2008 and beyond. Govt should think of something better than MMIA so as to make LOS a true HUB.

This will grow the market, tourism and more revenue 2 naija.

Lets be very patriotic in handling this issue and follow the right part. Its not all about money, this is aviation!! This is not railway corperation.

[MamaPut]

MMA2 was built in entirely the wrong place anyway. It should have been built in the area between the two runways for improved passenger access between terminals and with a new, much larger ramp area. In its present position and with all its inbuilt problems it'll just end up as another disaster. Profit before passengers should be its motto.

If this, (I think) the first example of Public Private Partnership (PPP) in the Nigerian aviation sector, is an example of what could happen wen 6 major airports are privatised under similar PPP schemes, it does not bode well for the international air passenger in Nigeria :sad:

[18left]

can Balewa assist us in forwarding these posts to NCAA/FAAN?
it would be nice if they new what we pilots thought about this issue

[jagunmolu]

Methinks its not about what you pilots think,its all about the secrecy,deals,etc ;that were done in the dark that will soon be exposed for all to see, concerning the the whole setup, very soon all the dirty linen will be on the fence,the way terminal gist is progressing, is possibly gonna bring a lot of hidden stuff to the surface.Some guys are already getting personal ,be it safety or financial, we shall soon get to know who the real power brokers are;be it virgin,bi-courtney,govt et al,lets all be civil and siddon look,e go soon clear and yawa go gas.:*

[nuclear weapon]

I am sorry to ask a stupid question. How on earth is the new terminal going to handle all this airlines if they move there. You should have seen the place during christmas without vk and arik. Have they thought about the disruption this would cause the airlines and the travelling public? Unless I am missing something.

[jagunmolu]

We Will Soon Find The Missing Link Patience,just A Little More Patience:d

[AVSEC]

If things were properly handled,mma2 should be declining a mountain of offers.
van elk has changed his tune hasnt he?first there was no iata report,or iata observation,and now the iata statement relates to design of the terminal and not to safety.
I feel sorry for the poor chap,because he really deserves better from his boss,the proprietor of Bicourtney doesnt he?
The proprietors only problems are his management team who are making a balls up of running his business and van elk isnt getting info on just how badly things are being run when he is not around especially where it concerns his current tenants needs.
Wish him the best though,cos Africa needs this project to succeed.

[surely not]

There seems little point with wishing the project well etc etc. It was a half baked plan in the first place so why should it turn into a world beating success when it opens.

FAAN and NCAA were well aware of the plan for Lagos to develop as the preferred hub for West Africa, with VK as the prime mover in this plan. So why did they design and build a terminal that is totally unsuited to the task of providing hub facilities in conjunction with MMIA? Not only does it not provide the necessary hub facilities, but it cannot even provide sufficient stands for the domestic operation that existed the day it opened, let alone any growth by moving VK and Arik or other additional airlines!!

To expect transferring pax to pass from airside to landside, catch a local taxi across to MMIA, then go through controls to airside again (and vice versa) is utter lunacy. Aside from the 'Abuja Boot boys' waiting to entice people into illegal taxis, the road system isn't good enough that any reasonable connection time could be guaranteed.

I am also amazed that the company running the Domestic facility feels it can charge more than MMIA, and then insist airlines use it's facility at the higher rates. Who is the MD? Is it Dick Turpin the famous highway robber of olden days?

Methinks that a large dose of self interest lurks somewhere in the background, allied to another dose of 'let's bash VK on the nose'. If AON is really backing this lunacy then they should also be held to account.

[JABAG]

HI SN,
yes we need to turn lagos into a HUB. In the late 70s and early 80s, it did fill this role. FAAn and the NCAA with Govt backing need to go ahead made make this areality. However keeping it for VK alone is not right. Quite a number of airlines had wanted to fill this role and denied the opportunity.
We need to move the nigerian avaition industry forward as whole for ALL operators.

[Revnetwork]

Jabag,
SN is not saying MMIA should be left to VK alone and VK is not arguing that as well. VK never complained when Arik was allowed to use both MMIA & Abuja International!! VK had some routes reserved for 7 years, but the government immediately went back on it's word. Did the public hear VK complain--No. I think VK has had enough of the bull---t from the government and has to make a stand at some point.
Things is, NONE of the other airlines ever tried to move things forward in the Nigerian aviation scene till VK came in.
How many airlines had "proper" management & control systems,training regimes or safety policies before VK arrived?

VK insisted at inception that it needed to operate from MMIA in order to create a hub as required by the government. You say other airlines wanted to fulfill that role? Who and when? I can't seem to remember that.

In order to move the industry forward for ALL operators, then everyone should stand together and insist that the NCAA as a regulatory body has no business forcing people to operate from this or that terminal, and all airlines together can meet and verify if VK's claims on safety are true or not rather than seek their own niche with their favourite politician of the day. AON is just a talking shop for "OLD" bosses at WT. What have they done to support ALL airlines in Nigeria. Remember, VK is also a member.

As AVSEC said, Alex Van Moose seems to be changing his tune and through their adverts in the various dailies, have acknowledged that there is an IATA report. They are still questioning it's authenticity though! He also cites Bi-Courtney's need to repay loans taken for construction of the terminal as justification for everyone to operate from MMA2:ugh:

[surely not]

Thanks Rev for clarifying my point to JABAG. I mistakenly thought using the term 'VK as prime mover' allowed for an interpretation that other airlines could and should also benefit.

In 2005 when Virgin Nigeria came into being there was only Bellview that had any significant International/Regional and Domestic routes and to my knowledge they hadn't made any efforts to use MMIA for their Domestic flights. The Domestic area was a shambles with little proper control of the check-in procedure, and overbookings sorted out on the basis that the first pax onto the a/c flies, but if you are last in the queue then don't be too certain!!

The airlines that were flying then, and FAAN, had made little attempt to create any semblance of order in the facility so I doubt they were thinking ahead to the formation of a hub!! Actually I doubt they even had the vision to think that way!!

Then VK was selected from other airlines who had submitted proposals as the airline of the Governments choice to improve Nigerian Aviations standing in the World, including the long term vision of creating a West African hub at MMIA. Now maybe I'm old fashioned but 'long term' is generally longer than 2.5years! Since that day the airlines and backers who lost out have done their best to hamper VK in any way possible, and they have used AON as the vehicle to add 'respectability' to their mischief making.

Since then Arik have also chosen to operate from MMIA, and VK had parts of the terminal areas in MMIA that it, not FAAN, had renovated given to a competitor!

Now in an act of gross petulance and acting as a play ground bully, FAAN demolishes the Domestic Business class lounge that VK had designed and built in what was a rat infested, derelict area of MMIA before VK gutted and renovated it.

Hopefully these are the last acts of the few in power who are still scared of improvement, who feel threatened by something running efficiently.

For the sake of Nigerian Aviation as a whole MMIA must retain the ability to operate as a Transfer hub.

[JABAG]

Hey guys, right you all are. However other airlines did ask to operate out of MMIA and this was refused. The same request was made for Abuja, also refused.
What should have been done from day one was to have a 5, 10, 15 year plan. We all would have had the bluprint to follow. This however is not going to happen, and falls on the respective airlines to make their own luck. Today VK, tomorow........!
:bored:

[jagunmolu]

Ive been following a lot of posts,and i think its beginning to get personal and passionate,no problem guys just take it easy,the peolple that caused this hullabaloo will soon come up with a solution,i,d like to ask however what lagos airport is supposed to be?a hub for all nigerian airlines ?or a personal hub of vk?and all this talk of docus signed at inception of vk how many of you passionate fellows are privy to this docus,lets tread softly and with caution please,and be less abusive lest we end up being fooled...........siddon look:cool::cool:

[AVSEC]

As a part of an entity that regularly invests within infrastructure under governmental control within Africa,you have got to feel for VK.
The destruction of the VK business lounge will not encourage corporate responsibility amongst the Nigerian governments foreign partners in other projects,because a lot of those companies are watching this development and learning from VK's current problems.

[surely not]

Jagunmolu I have seen the agreement between VK and the Federal Government. It exists, it is unambiguous, and it is signed.

I don't think VK has a problem (though I don't know this for a fact) with other airlines using MMIA as a hub. VK and Arik are using it now so why not other airlines as well providing there is space available on the stands and in the check-in area. The existing operators should have grandfather rights on the flight scheds and pier positions, but if that isn't an issue then open the hub up to more. In theory this increases passenger throughput which would benefit everyone.

[Revnetwork]

Hi Jagunmolu,
I like your advise about everyone keeping a cool head and hope this doesn't descend into personal attacks and name calling. Just like Surely not, I too have seen the agreement between VK & FGN. Moving to MM2 affects VK more than most, because their flights are scheduled and crewed based on the hub concept. VK doesn't mind other airlines operating from MMIA as well.


Meanwhile... from sunday's daily trust newspaper

We stand by our report –IATA
Written by ....
Sunday, 10 February 2008
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Friday that it stands by its November 2007 report identifying safety hazards at the Murtala Muhammed Airport terminal 2 (MM2).

A spokesperson of IATA, Mr Lorne Riley, said in an e-mail to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the organisation had safety as its top priority.

"IATA submitted a technical report to the Nigerian authorities that identified a number of shortcomings including inadequate jet blast protection in the parking areas in the domestic terminal MM2", Riley wrote.

The IATA spokesperson, who is Manager, Corporate Communications of the association, said the assessment followed a technical mission to Nigeria from November 7 to 8, 2007 when MM2 was visited.

Riley said IATA identified safety hazards in the manoeuvring and parking of aircraft at MM2.

"Safety is our top priority and IATA stands by its report", Riley stated.

He said IATA is willing to re-inspect the MM2 apron and parking areas with the relevant authorities to see if the status had changed since the November visit.

Controversy has trailed the state of MM2 since February 1, after Virgin Nigeria said it was worried about the safety of aircraft at the airport based on an IATA report.

The authenticity of the report has since been in dispute prompting NAN to seek clarification from the body.

Bi-Courtney Services Limited, managers of MM2, had insisted that the airport was safe and fit even for regional operations.

Already, Aero Contractors has slated February 11 to commence regional operations at the airport.

Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has also called on Virgin Nigeria to comply with the federal government’s directive to airlines to relocate to MM2.

NAN recalls that a six-man team from IATA, led by Mr Herman Groenewadd, Manager, IATA safety operations and infrastructure, Africa, visited Nigeria in November last year.

Groenewadd had told newsmen after the inspection, that the team was satisfied but would communicate some grey areas to the affected authorities.

[surely not]

What of Arik in all this? Are they being urged by AON to move as well?

Well today should have seen Aero operating Regional flights out of MMA2........... any news on how their operation went?

[BALEWA]

Wat ya think surely not :oh:

[JABAG]

Hey guys, "they" struck again.
Aero turned up at MMA2, passengers tuned up, Immigration and customs late as usual. But the authorities cancelled the regioanl ops. Every one had to be moved bak to MMIA to board.
Whats going on?
All airlines need to work the hub conept. Either at MMIA or MMA2. There are short comings at both terminals and it needs to be fixed.

Oh Dear!:ugh:

[GroskinTheFlyer]

flew out of MMA2 today with aero, the concept is good, but in reality it is too small to accomodate vk and arik especially with the nine vk emb jets coming in sept and ariks fleet.the finishing is poor, and when i went to the toilet, a guy with an orange t-shirt insisted to collect and keep my bag but he didnt have a pass/ID and i refused but he kept on insisting he was incharge of the toilet and has to keep my bag.

The first security lapse i noticed was after boarding was completed one pax couldnt not get a seat which confused everybody.eventually it was discovered a pax boarded the wrong plane, was meant to go to calabar.

Anyway, for those that dont know, NOTHING IS PERMANENT in Nigeria.It is written on most molues,luxurious buses and 911s.:O

There was an intresting article today on guardian


Aviation: Who sows, who reaps and who rips off?
By Musa Balarabe

"It is difficult to conceive of vigorous economic growth without an efficient aviation system"
- European Commission.
</I>THE title of this piece is not original. It was 'stolen' from the theme of one of the many annual conferences of the former Association of Advertising Practitioners of Nigeria (AAPN). But it is appropriate to this piece in light of the shenanigans currently going on in Nigeria's aviation sector. One of these is the recent directive by the Minister of State for Aviation, Dr. Felix Hyat, to the country's private sector-led flag carrier, Virgin Nigeria, and its competitor, Arik Air, to join other local airline operators at the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja (MMA2) for purposes of driving their local flights from the new terminal.
Government is said to have arrived at this decision in order to stem what is considered to be a rise in illicit drug trafficking at the nation's foremost airport owing to the ease of transfer achieved by passengers since the domestic and international services of the airlines in question are virtually seamless.
It is sad that a fundamental decision on service operation could be taken in utter disregard of the reason for being of the airlines, especially Virgin Nigeria, which will be harder hit than Arik Air in the new dispensation. This is because the existence of both airlines did not arise from the same set of circumstances. From the outset, Virgin Nigeria was conceived with the key objective of offering a global international network and to take alongside excellent domestic airlines that will continue to flourish in the domestic sector. Indeed, the promoters of the airline were requested to consider investment in airport infrastructure on the premise that Lagos becomes the leading aviation hub in Africa.
The promise of building an efficient aviation hub in Lagos, as contained in the MEMU - Memorandum of Mutual Understanding - signed between the Federal Government and Virgin Atlantic Airline in September 2004, the strategic investor and technical partner in the Flag Carrier project in Nigeria - necessitated the approval granted Virgin Nigeria to operate all its flights from MMIA. In effect, the airline was required to invest substantial sums of money in enhancing customer facilities in Nigerian airports, quite separate from the responsibilities of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). These works resulted in a dedicated area for Virgin Nigeria within the terminal, bringing a best-in-class experience to its customers. This was done primarily to enable smooth transfers between connecting Virgin Nigeria flights because the goal was to make MMIA become a leading aviation hub for Africa.
Virgin Nigeria consequently embarked on major renovation and upgrading of terminals of local airports with a view to positively improving on its service delivery to customers. According to the airline, the "African regional operation is hinged on fostering the spirit of brotherhood and the socio-cultural and economic ties that exist in Africa, especially as encapsulated by the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD)."
Interestingly, sometime in 2006 the Federal Government began a systematic breach of all agreements it signed with investors in the new flag carrier. First, it designated other operators on the so-called 'lucrative' routes that hitherto had been contractually reserved for Virgin Nigeria before its take-off. Next, the airline was compelled to give up space to competition at terminals that it had refurbished at its own cost. Again, government reneged on practically all the requirements earlier agreed to make Lagos an aviation hub.
The recent directive that Virgin Nigeria should move its domestic operation to MMA2 is worrisome for a number of reasons. At a corporate level, the airline will lose the huge capital it had invested in putting up globally competitive infrastructure at MMIA, as the domestic lounge will have to be dismantled at cost to the company without any refund from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). But it is Nigeria and, indeed, the aviation industry that is trying to find its feet that will be the biggest losers.
When people talk about the future development of the Nigerian economy, there is a lot of emphasis on oil and gas as well as agriculture, among other things. Hardly is there any significant emphasis on aviation, which the EU has identified as a critical vehicle for national development. If one looks anywhere in the world, what is required for a successful aviation hub is sufficient local demand. Nigeria has the perfect geographic position to be an aviation hub. But this opportunity will be lost because of myopic self-interest and wanton disregard for consistency in policy formulation and implementation.
A policy somersault as had happened to Virgin Nigeria, without doubt, is bound to shake the faith of international investors in Nigeria. Who on earth would seek to do business with a government and people that cannot keep faith with the spirit and letters of simple contracts? These are some basic issues that need to be revisited in the days to come, seeing that in the long run, the government directive will do more harm than good to the development of the aviation industry in Nigeria.
For the sake of an argument, let us assume that the relocation to MMA2 stands. But is this new terminal the solution that to whatever problem(s) that has/have been identified by government in arriving at its decision? By all means, no. For the simple reason that a recent report of the International Air Travel Association (IATA) Technical Mission to Lagos International Airport in November, 2007 identified deficiencies at MMA2 that need to be amended "as a matter of urgency to ensure safe operations at the new domestic terminal."
Among others, the IATA team said that "vehicular movement (on the apron) is uncontrolled;" "hydrant system, which is the fuelling system is not in place, the available fire extinguishers have no serviceability tags;" "the apron is too small for the intended scale of operation;" "passengers cross the apron without escort/guide;" "the distance between aircraft parked at remote parking lot and aircraft in the gate is too small, and aircraft may be damaged by jet blast" and "Gates 1 and 6 point to the end of the apron that is not protected by jet blast protectors." What is the hurry to order operators to a terminal that has apparently failed basic safety requirements? Little wonder all the other domestic operators resisted moving into MMA2 until they were compelled to do so. Must common good be subordinated to narrow self-interest? Whichever way one looks at the decision of government to ram hard decisions down the throats of operators, the all-important question will linger: in the business of aviation in Nigeria, "Who sows, who reaps and who rips-off?" There is need to tread carefully
http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/editorial_opinion/article02//indexn2_html?pdate=110208&ptitle=Aviation:%20Who%20sows,%20who%20reaps%20and%20who%20r ips%20off?

[jagunmolu]

Guys as foretold ,the truth will eventually surface,we are begining to hear differing stories,we expect more and would soon be able to make informed deductions,we await more revelations/blackmail/brickbatting and serious mudslinging etc,just a little more patience would do the trick.Aluta Continua:confused::confused::)

[jagunmolu]

Just read an article in todays TRIBUNE newspaper where Hon HYATT Minister for Aviation blew his top and swore to battle VK to the very end ,what he means by this is left to the imagination,i,d like to ask,WHERE IS THIS ANTI VK sentiment awaking from all of a sudden,methinks theres more to this than the court case and movt to MMA2 hmn VK had better find out what the real problem is,as i see bigger mountains ahead,while not trying to be NOSTRADAMUS.We need to tread with caution.This case has been taken very sorely and PERSONAL at the highest levels:sad::sad::sad:

[18left]

methinks the permanent solution beneficial to ALL airlines,is for an airside rail and/or bus service to link all terminals and let every airline stay where they are,this way all airlines irrespective of the terminal benefit from the hub concept and the passengers transfer is stress free

sombody pls tell AON and Joji to :mad:,at this time in aviation we need people who can think,analyse and process information(basically someone who can think!),un biased and educated,and project us in a positive manner and are currently or have previously run a successful airline operation.None of the above is applicable to JOji or his cohorts at AON

By the way as a rejoinder to AON all BA flights Local or international are out of terminal four.Also if drug trafficking is on the rise in Nigerian airports,quick question why allow international flights from MMA2 if this is your genuine policy thrust to seperate local from international?
Futhermore all drug traffickers are arrested at check in/or immigration screening,what does this have to do with local flight arrival?
An airport local regional or international is supposed to be a secure area(correct me if am wrong AVSEC) so you want a portion of the aiport more secure than the other simply because of international flights?
Jagunmolu is right there is more to operation hurt VK than meets the eye

[AVSEC]

you are absoloutely right bruv.
Disgraceful,the revelations from IATA communications innit?
Does this mean that anyone who denied there was an IATA report,was lying?
Did they honestly believe there was no IATA report?
Were they mislead,and if so by whom and for what motive?
Poor Van Elk.
Poor Bi Courtney management.
Does not look good for the Nigerian aviation industry does it?
Poor Africa....

[Mama Mangrove]

It looks as if the whole thing will be decided next month as reported in This day today:

Ruling on the application by the federal government, for the discharge of the interim order it made restraining government or its agencies from effecting the relocation order of Virgin Nigeria from the International wing of the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos, to the domestic wing, pending the determination of the suit has been fixed for March 24.
Virgin Nigeria yesterday told the Lagos High court that contrary to the earlier argument of government that the court had no jurisdiction to entertain the matter, that the court has the jurisdiction to hear the matter, notwithstanding the exis.
Virgin Nigeria’s counsel, Mr. Demola Akerele (SAN), contended that the plaintiff has a right to file a matter in court, as the burden was on the defendants to prove the existence of arbitration.
According to him, the court has the jurisdiction to hear the case, contrary to government’s contention, arguing that the federal high court has the jurisdiction by virtue of the 1999 constitution, which confers on it, the jurisdiction to entertain all matters relating to aviation and aircraft as well as matters involving the validity of an executive or administrative act of a federal agency.
“You cannot ask the court to stay proceedings and at the same time, ask the court to determine whether there is a cause of action before the court. If an agent of a disclosed principal has not requested for arbitration, it will not be possible refer such matter to arbitration.
It is trite law that an application asking for arbitration must be supported with an affidavit that the parties are willing and ready to go to arbitration,”he argued.
According to him, “for the application for stay of proceedings to succeed, parties must show at the beginning of the proceeding that they are ready and willing to ensure the success of the arbitration”. He argued that there was no suppression of material facts, as attempts were made to resolve the matter before it was brought to court and that a party most affected by an action has locus standi. According to him, Bicortney would have been joined in the matter, but because the cause of action is a contract between Virgin Nigeria and the federal government, to that extent, it cannot be joined as a party.
Mr. Akerele argued that “for an injunction, the critical issue is that there must be some legal issues to be tried. Even if there is a denial, this cannot be determined at this stage of the proceedings. Plaintiff insist they have a contract, irrespective of what the other party argue and government must act in accordance with the law when issuing directives”. He urged the court to dismiss the application by the federal government.
Justice Ibrahim Auta, had following an ex-parte application by Virgin Nigeria, which had complained to the court that the federal government breached the Memorandum of Mutual Understanding reached between it and government on September 28, 2004, by ordering it to relocate from the international wing of the MMA to the domestic wing, had restrained government from carrying through with its directive.

[jagunmolu]

DOES MAKING FURTHER COMMENTS ON THIS ISSUE,CONSTITUTE SUBJUDICE?ANYWAY IS IT TRUE THAT WHEN THE MOU WAS SIGNED BETWEEN VK AND FGN; VK WAS YET TO BE DULY REGISTERED AT THE CAC?AS STATED BY THE GOVT LAWYER?SOMETHING ABOUT SEP04 AND DEC04?CAN ANYBODY CONFIRM THIS FACT?OR CONTROVERT IT.IS IT POSSIBLE ,THATS WHAT IS ARMING THE GOVT ET ALL?ALL THE TOUGH TALK...................?

[Captain Buck]

It seems that Virgin are not the only ones not enthusiastic about moving to MMA2, as reported in Friday's Daily Trust:

Arik Air Moves Operations to Old Domestic Terminal (http://allafrica.com/stories/200802150139.html)

There seems to be more to this than meets the eye as Alex Van Elk has accused Virgin Nigeria of lying about the safety of operations from MMA2 and inferring that the IATA report may have been doctored:

MMA2 Management Faults Virgin Nigeria (http://allafrica.com/stories/200802150026.html)

It looks as if Lagos is not the only place with problems either as the Minister of State for Aviation, Mr. Felix Hyat declared that the state of the International airport at Port Harcourt is unsatisfactory. He did, however, say that he expected international flights to resume to there fairly soon:

Port Harcourt Airport - FG Deplores State of Facilities (http://allafrica.com/stories/200802150434.html)

[Revnetwork]

Jag,
From memory of events at the time, an airline called Eagle?? or something close was used by VAA to bid. This airline was duly registered in Nigeria. Remember there were other airlines in the bidding to run the flag carrier (SAA et al). When Virgin won, the original MOU was signed between Virgin Atlantic Airways and the FGN. When Virgin Nigeria was registered later, it assumed all contractual assets of Eagle?? as I'm sure is stated in it's article of formation. Remember also, that when the 51% Nigerian investors came on board, those articles had to change again to reflect the current ownership structure.
I'm not a lawyer and don't know the significance of this, but it does show that the government haven't got a proper argument if they decided to use the time of registration of VK as their main argument in court rather than argue on the current substative issues which they never did.

[AVSEC]

what would you do if you were Richard Branson with recent developments?
Cancel quietly,all plans for fleet expansion.
allow all leases to lapse without plans for renewal.
due to lack of aircrafts gradually phase out most domestic routes.
Continue all international and regional revenue accruing routes until forced out of Nigerian aviation or there is a change in government.
What do you think guys?

[jagunmolu]

AVSEC YOUR THOTS SHALL NEVER COME TO PASS,INSHALLAH,TUFIA, WHICH KIND INFERENCE BE DAT?PLS KEEP YOUR DEVILISH INSINUATIONS TO YOURSELF:cool::cool:

[AVSEC]

what I dont understand is why the minister of state for aviation is being quoted within the electronic media accusing Virgin group management of making untrue statements?
If the quotes are true,then things are not looking good.
This matter is supposed to be in court isnt it?
He should not be commenting until a judgement is given,should he?

[jagunmolu]

We are dealing with a masquerade called FGN see how it just reversed the sale of NITEL/MTEL without any recourse to justice and fairplay, i think we are dealing with a bull in a china shop, pretending to be guided by the RULE OF LAW, thats why vk needs to tread with caution,see ARIK, after all the noise have quietly moved out,the respect for RAMBO is the beginning of wisdom,thes guys dont give a s..:mad:..it, what happens to anybody as long as they win, as avsec said, is it not subjudice to have HYATT the HUN-Minister still firing salvos daily in the print media?,dis one don pass me o,however we still SIDDON LOOKING,Hoping that common/legal sence might prevail.:yuk:

[Kadaria]

Hi All,

I am new here and was prompted to register and make my contributions after reading all the opinions on the current problems between Virgin Nigeria and the Federal Government and which Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Ltd was dragged into. Straight up let me say , I am not a neutral party. I work for Bi-Courtney and feel that this forum has not properly understood the issues and want to share what I know with you. Obviously you can then make up your minds.

The IATA Report:

Alex Van Elk and Bi-Courtney never said an IATA report didn't exist. What we said from day one is that it is questionable as no audit was conducted at MMA2. We stand by that story. IATA was indeed in Nigeria as a follow up to a 2005 visit. They audited the International terminal. I am no pilot and indeed my knowledge of aviation is quite limited but is it possible for an official audit of an terminal to be conducted with out the knowledge of its operators and regulatory authorities? I don't think so. Secondly, we have reproduced for the public to view and judge for themselves an internal email that was circulated by Virgin Nigeria in September shortly after they visited our terminal. This was before we were operational. During this visit they raised some concerns, all were without basis. Our terminal was designed according to ICAO standards( annex 14) and we told them so at the time. They talked about signage in the terminal, it was in the process of being put up, they asked why our fire extinguishers didn't have servicebility tags, we told them, they are new and their first service was not due until next year and on and on it went. This internal email was verbatim and I mean word for word the same as the IATA report section dealing with MMA2 . Now please forgive if we cry fraud when an email circulated in September is reproduced in an IATA audit report produced in November based on an audit that never occured. We don't know the game IATA is playing but we have choosen to respect the NCAA authorities who assure us they will get to the bottom of the matter.

We obviously don't have the same clout as Virgin Atlantic, but I can bet you that you have not heard the last of this IATA report because it is quite questionable.

CAPACITY

Bi-Courtney never claimed that it had enough capacity to park all flightrs on its apron. It was for this reason it entered into negotiations with the authorities to make use of the apron in the adjoining GAT terminal. Indeed before the Federal Government issued an unltimatum to the two airlines , Bi-Courtney using its own resources had cleared old aircraft that were previously on this apron and moved them to another parking space that it built. The same statement which announced the ultimatum also announced the agreement enabling Bi-Courtney to use the GAT apron for added capacity. It baffles my mind why people choose to follow closely one part of a story while refusing to pay attention to other parts of it.

Virgin Nigeria has its reasons for not wanting to relocating, they are all economic, they are making loses , are indebted to FAAN and operating out of MMA2 will take away the advantages they have over other local airlines. It was not too long ago that Virgin Atlantic went to war with British Airways over monopolistic tendencies. What it refused to accept in Britain it wants to do in Nigeria. Haba.

I noticed somebody said they saw the MOU and its cast iron, Sir , I suggest you show it to a lawyer and ask for their opinion. There is nothing cast iron in the document I saw. However I won't comment further on this because frankly this issue has nothing to do with Bi-Courtney. It is between Nigeria's government and Virgin Nigeria. Had they done the honourable thing and pursued this purely in court, we would not have joined issues with them. Afterall they are potential customers. When they decided to use emotional blackmail on ordinary NIgerians who have suffered terribly as a result of aircrashes in the country and in the process disparaging our good name, we had to reply. Incidently , I don't know of any airline crash that happenned in a Nigerian terminal.

Lastly let me say, at the moment in Nigeria, there is no terminal like MMA2, including International terminals. It is ironic that Virgin Nigeria that willingly uses terminals like Yola , Maiduguri and Owerri that are at best only half as good as MMA2 wants to talk about safety. Please read beyond the headlines and ask yourself why the most audited airline in the history of Nigeria, Aero, the choosen airline by multi-nationals and embassies is happy to be in MMA2 ? You think Aero don't care about their passengers safety?

Bi-Courtney is a local Nigerian company that is proud of what it has achieved at MMA2. It will continue to pioneer developments in aviation, in Nigeria by Nigerians. It will continue to protect its rights to make a decent return on its investment thereby encouraging other investors to come and make a difference to infrastructural development in the country.

[Rani]

Indeed -with the Hyat man running the ministry show now, the days of Babalola Borishade and Yuguda seam like sweet memories :E:p:sad:

[surely not]

Kadaria firstly thank you for being honest about your lack of experience in aviation. It does show in some parts of your posting :}

Also you are up front about your partisanship for Bi Courtney. I have worked with Virgin Nigeria in the past, no longer alas, and was around at the birth of the airline. It cannot be contested that Vigin Nigeria were given the right to build their operation as a hub out of MMIA by the Nigerian Government. Based on this approval the long term plan for the airline was made. This approval was given with full knowledge by the Nigerian Government of the plans for the new domestic terminal, yet no mention was made for any eventual relocation.

Whether any other airline thinks this was right or wrong is immaterial, the approval was given and VK spent considerable sums constructing a modern, efficient domestic departure lounge and gates, business lounge, gate system, plus establishing it's operations base in derelict areas of the terminal that were the home to many rodents.

The plans for MMA2 went ahead without making any reasonable provision for the existing number of flights expected to operate through there in peak times, let alone any significant increase. VK was not expected to be part of this plan until I think it was Boris the Shady came to power, when he started to make noises. By then I was working elsewhere so I will let others comment more closely.

You suggest that VK's reluctance to move is purely financial, and that is the comment which underlines your severe lack of experience and comprehension of the operational issues involved in running a hub operation. The adverse effect on the logistics are a major factor in any opposition to the move. I believe that the major driver for Bi Courtney getting the airlines to move to MMA2 is financial debt repayment, so if it is wrong for VK it is also wrong for Bi Courtney!

You also seem to think that airline safety is solely down to aircraft crashes.

When they decided to use emotional blackmail on ordinary NIgerians who have suffered terribly as a result of aircrashes in the country and in the process disparaging our good name, we had to reply. Incidently , I don't know of any airline crash that happenned in a Nigerian terminal.

and this again underlines your lack of operational experience. Ground safety is a major issue at all airports, and congestion on the ramp is one of the major areas, especially where you have passengers walking in the same areas that service vehicles are being driven, aircraft are powering off stand with the issue of jet blast, propwash etc. Bad enough during the day but the risks escalate significantly at night.

Pax out in the torrential rains that occur will seek shelter anywhere, and they do not have the knowledge base to know where is safe or not.

I am also very surprised that a company such as Bi Courtney which trumpets itself as being experienced and a market leader in Airport development didn't understand the nature of the VK operation and make plans, with VK, to alleviate the problems that the move would cause. This is either negligence on their part, or perhaps it is the work of others behind the scenes who wish to hamper the VK operation as much as possible. I used to think that the BAA was high handed, but Bi Courtney beat them hands down.

[AVSEC]

correct me if I am wrong,but the crash in PHC,does that count as a crash within a Nigerian terminal or not?
Kadaira,enough respect for being honest on this forum as to your bias.That is very honourable.
As an employee of an investor company within Africa,I must warn you that this battle between FGN and VK with apparent favour for bicourtney does not make non nigerian investors comfortable.
However this ends will affect FDI within Nigeria in the future,particularly the aviation sector.

[18left]

quick question kadaria,this are the departures out of lagos in the morning 7-8ish

arik abv 737
aero abv 737
vk abv/737 or 767
chachangi abv 737 or 727
bellview abv 737
arik phc crj/737
aero phc 737
vk phc 737
chachangi phc/owr 737
vk ph military F50
arik ph military F50 or DASH8
arik calabar CRJ
arik osubi F50/DASH8
aero osubi DASH8
aero benin DASH8
vk osubi(IN MARCH) F50
bellview 737 phc(coming soon)
vk calabar 737
vk benin(coming soon) F50

1.pls tell me when you add you parking area at MMA2 plus GAT can you accomodate all this?(remember vk uses 767 on demand to abuja)
do you have enough buses to shuttle for all this flights simantanesouly?
2.why have arik moved to GAT?
3.what is the path to shuttle the pax from MMA2 TO GAT and the distance from the taxi way?
4.how long will it take?
5.do you know the meaning of a hub? pls fly BA to manchester from lagos,and come back and tell us what happened out of heathrow to manchester leg as regards transfer!
i hope you can answer all this questions

[18left]

finally kadaria every airline owes FAAN!
I am also willing to place a bet that if you tell AERO today you have the option of moving from MMA2 to any terminal,that you dont necessarily have to be in MMA2........................................................ ..............osh in seconds

[GroskinTheFlyer]

Kadaria I Have Question /scenarios For You.

I Am Arriving With Vk Into Mma2 And Connecting With Vk Or Ba To Lhr @ Mmia. Do You Expect Me To Take Okada(bike) From Mma2 To Mmia With All My Luggage?

Or After Arriving Mmia From Yankee And Want To Hit Ph, Abj Or Kan, With All My Plenty Suitcases, You Expect Me To Take Okada To Mma2 Because I Might Not Be Able To Afford The Outrageous Airport Cab Fare?



Please Reply

[Rani]

I agree with 18Left and GroskintheFlyer. Bi-Courtney failed to foresee 3 key issues:

1- The rising domestic traffic. The terminal simply cannot meet the capacity required by its own contractual exclusivity to serve domestic flights. The amount of aviobridges and gates offered is a total farce. For Bi-Courtney to come and say they will use GAT ramp is an ever bigger farce: Where have the $300 million been invested? Why is the ramp so small?

2- The lack of a functional, efficient, and fast link between MMIA and MMA2 means some airlines like VK (duh) will shun the terminal because it doesnt fit with their business model of establishing a HUB in Lagos.

3- Federal Govt. of Nigeria "agreements" are (a) usually not binding and practically junk pieces of paper and (b) sometimes undermined by conflicting parallel agreements with third parties. Tinapa in Cross River is a good example of a govt-backed yet govt-killed project.


Where's the provision for the above? In my opinion Bi-Courtney is too politically linked to Andy Uba / Babalakin / Obasanjo and has very little to offer in international expertise. The signage, undercapacity, and whare-house like appearance in the inside leaves MUCH to be desired. Also, Bi-Courtney has not commented about the future phases of its terminal to explain the capacity issue. This is a bad sign!

[Revnetwork]

Kadaria,
Welcome to the board and it's nice hear your version. I just need to ask you a few questions just like everone else.
1) Why did the MD of MMA2 say that the reason they wanted VK was because they needed to pay back loans taken from the banks?
2) VK is the largest user of FAAN facilities and all bills are settled on a monthly bases with no arrears. If they are biggets debtors, why do you want them?
3) The email was sent to MMA2 by VK worthiness people as part of the audit exercise which is how they got a copy. Have ALL the deficiencies noted by VK been solved to their succes?
4) How are user fees in relation to current MMIA level?

Awaiting for you reply on yhese issues. I would also be interesting to see how you intend to handle the amount of departures as shown by aerlier poster.

Rgds

Net

[jagunmolu]

GENTLEMEN,......CAUTION....My dear kadiria is the messenger dont overkill him,having accepted that he knows next to nothing, i cannot but wonder why we are all wasting our energies on a neophite and a non-starter,as you well know this guy has to justify the bread(no offence)just reality,bi-courtney has been backed by the hon AONDAKAA ......remember him in the not too recent EFCC saga,,for your info he has resurfaced again in these issues check out his press release on this issue and you will see that this fight has already been fought and won by the ALMIGHTY AGF,Bi Courtney for all its worth has been handed over the whole of MMA2 and Terminal 2 for your info?FAAN has been directed to hands off all domestic operations vide a memo you will soon be privy to...GUYS ...its musical chairs all over again,it seems we cant win,much as we would like to,and guess what NOBODY CARES its all about $,£,s and cents.i don tire i beg.....how far?NAIJA ON THE MARCH AGAIN...............:uhoh::{:suspect::sad:

[Shinobi]

It is rather unfortunate that the situation has reached the present level between Virgin Nigeria and the Federal Ministry of Aviation in Nigeria.I Think a lot of people do not know the meaning of the "Hub and spokes System", as it relates to the Airline business.

If we are able to delve into the History of Aviation, we will see how Aviation started,which was initially in France, with trhe first airborne balloon.This progressed to the Airship,and then the Aeroplane. The use of Aeroplanes for transport was initiated with the United States Military distributing mails by air. I could go on and on.

Airlines initially used to conduct flights from a departure point, passing through many stops before reaching the destination. This resulted in passengers spending a lot of time, passing through stops which were not on their itinerary. This is what gave birth to the "Hub and spoke " system. Using a bicycle/motorcycle wheel to Illustrate, the center represents the hub of the airlines operation. The spokes represent flights originating from various points which terminate at the hub. Passengers are now transferred at the hub, to other flights going to their various destinations.

I will use American Airlines as an example. American airlines uses the Dallas/Fort-worth Airport as their hub. They operate more than 250 flights daily(This may be an understatement), out of the hub.They do have their own terminal, from which all their flights operate. There are standards for passenger/baggage transfers,and the availability of services to passengers(e.g.Banks etc) for a place to be classified as a hub. I believe that if things were like they should be, nothing prevents Virgin Nigeria from building their own terminal for their hub operation. This is what applies in the todays world.
A hub facilitates the tranportation of passengers from place to place.

The former domestic terminal building, which got burnt at the Muritala Mohammed Airport was situated at a certain geographic location. There are standards which govern the proximity of an Airport to the runway, and even two parallel runways like what is at the Muritala Mohammed Airport.That is why the previous terminal building was built at that location and the two parallel runways are presently where they are.

For reasons not known, a car park was constructed, where the previous terminal building was located, and the new terminal building was constructed on the ramp, where aeroplanes used to park. It is interesting to mondering whether the builders did not take these issues int consideration, or decide to ignore them. These problems were obvious right from when the construction of the terminal building started. It is rather unfortunate that the people expected to be knowledgeable are the one making statements which leaves others in doubt about their competency.

Mistakes have been made, and it is impossible to physically transfer MMA2 to a better location. One has to just live with it.


On the issue of Aircraft accidents from available reports, it was not unusual for Aircraft collisions on the ground at the old site(aka Ganeral aviation terminal) until the Airport authorities finally decided to expand the ramp area. There was this joke among some pilots operating there, that the ramp looked like an Aircraft carrier, the way Aeroplanes were parked, on it

The fact that some errors have been made, does not mean that the wrong people should suffer.

[jagunmolu]

SPORTS

Thursday, February 21, 2008
Airlines battle govt over terminal
From John-Abba Ogbodo, Abuja
THE decision of the Federal Government to relocate domestic operations of Arik and Virgin airlines from the international terminal to Murtala Muhammed Airport 2 (MMA2) is still being opposed by them.
The airlines yesterday in Abuja argued that the decision could cripple their operations, hinting that they might relocate to neighbouring countries with favourable operating environments and opportunities.
While the two airlines raised the issue of safety, Virgin added that the action of government was a breach of the Memorandum of Mutual Understanding (MMU) signed with government prior to its operations.
According to the airline, there is a clause which states that no operator can own or run an alternative terminal while it subsists for a 36-year period.
Also, officials of Arik, Virgin, Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Bi-Courtney, developers of MMA2, appeared before the House Committee on Aviation yesterday evening.
Director of Corporate Operations, Virgin Airline, Mr. Larry Agose, told the committee that the relocation would affect the vision of "seamless operation" in the country.
He added: "We entered into an MMU with the government in 2004. 51 per cent of the company has been ceded to Nigerians as agreed. MMA-2 will create constraints for us in terms of passenger connections and seamless operations."
Chairman, Bi-Courtney, Mr. Wale Babalakin, however, countered, saying the airlines were being "hypocritical" because they were uncomfortable with the new arrangement.
"I can tell you that the MMU Virgin entered into with the government is not something that could be said to be binding," he declared.


Tools

Just came across this in the guardian,is the answer to this relocation?methinks that option is business suicide.:sad:

[GroskinTheFlyer]

Following the protests by Virgin Nigeria and Arik Air against the Federal Government’s order that all airlines should relocate domestic operations to the new Murtala Muhammed International Airport Terminal II (MMA-2), the House of Representatives yesterday urged all the parties involved in the crisis to sheath their swords as they attempt to resolve the lingering crisis.
This is coming just as the management of Arik Air yesterday threatened to close down its business in Nigeria if the controversy persists.
Chairman of the airline, Chief Arumemi Johnson-Ikhide, who appeared at the interactive session, said the concession agreement which ceded the exclusive rights to manage scheduled domestic flights in and out of Lagos to the later by the Federal Government with Bi-Courtney Nigeria Limited could “cripple” the aviation industry
He said Arik might be forced to relocate its operations to either Cameroon or Ghana where it had received assurances of an enabling environment for private investment.
Virgin Nigeria and Arik are protesting the Federal Government’s directive that domestic flights from the international wing of the airport should be relocated to the MMA-2, built under BOT agreement and concessioned for 36 years to Bi-Courtney
Virgin Nigeria had gone to court to stop the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) from effecting the directive.
Although both airlines raised safety issues, Virgin Nigeria which commenced operations in Nigeria in 2004, in particular argued that the relocation order, breached the Memorandum of Mutual Understanding (MMU), it entered into with the Federal Government before it started operations in Nigeria in 2004.
The clause which the airlines are now quarrelling with is the agreement with Bi-Courtney which states that no operator can own or run an alternative terminal while it subsists for a 36-year period.
The crisis led the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation to conduct an investigative hearing into the matter in Abuja on yesterday.
THISDAY, however, learnt yesterday that the Committee in a bid to find a lasting solution to the crisis, may ask the government to review the agreements entered with the companies in order to restore sanity into domestic flight operations
Arumemi-Ikhide, who appeared disturbed about the crisis, said the company refrained from making comments on the crisis but insisted the facilities at MMA-2, were not adequate to guarantee hitch-free operations.
He said the agreement government entered into with Bi-Courtney was a stumbling block because it left the fate of the commercial operations of airlines in the hands of a company to decide with the risk of stifling other business growth.
“We are talking of about $5.2 billion investment, which we have put into the industry in Nigeria. No investor will allow his money to be jeopardised that way.
“Bi-Courtney is trying to strangulate us; we will pack and go if Nigeria does not want us to operate here. This agreement is dangerous and can set Nigeria on fire.
“Arik is committed to obeying all laws but we shall contest every effort to cripple our business operations.
“Our insurers have warned us that there are safety issues; and I don’t think that Arik will be ready to risk further crises in the industry,” he said.
Johnson said in a bid which expired 12 midnight, January 31, Arik applied for a space at MMA-2 and paid a two-year rent of N160million to Bi-Courtney.
Based on discussions held with the management of Bi-Courtney, Arik paid another N80 million as rent for the third year.
He, however, expressed surprise that when Arik moved in to install its communications equipment, it was asked to pay another N25 million.
He told the committee that following the development, it sought to be given a copy of the government’s agreement with Bi-Courtney, but said that up to the time of the hearing, it had not been served.
Virgin Nigeria’s Director of Corporate Operations, Mr. Lanre Agose, who led the company’s team to the House yesterday, said the relocation would adversely affect its vision of “seamless operation”.
“We entered into MMU with the government in 2004; 51 per cent of the company has been ceded to Nigerians as agreed.
“MMA-2 will create constraints for us in terms of passenger connections and seamless operations,” he said.
Agose cited the November 2007 report by IATA, which raised safety concerns at the MMA-2 especially regarding the inadequacy of the apron to accommodate many aircraft.
Virgin Nigeria who revealed that it planned to purchase about 40 aircraft and create over 20,000 jobs in the next five years, said it would prefer to build a terminal of its own.
Wale Babalakin, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and Chairman, Bi-Courtney, while stating his company’s position dismissed the complaints of the airlines, saying that they were being hypocritical having realised that they were not comfortable with the agreement.
“I can tell you that the MMU Virgin Nigeria entered into with the government is not something that could be said to be binding,” he said.
Babalakin, who cited Clause 5b (6) of the MMU, pointed out that the company agreed to abide by any regulations issued by government.
“Now, government issued a directive on MMA-2 and they rushed to court; we held several meetings with Virgin Nigeria and never objected to moving to MMA-2.
“They have merely taken advantage of the weaknesses in our judiciary by being hypocritical because same Virgin came to Nigeria and wanted to monopolise the international operations,” he said.
The Managing Director of Federal Airports of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr Richard Aiseubogun, while explaining the details of the agreement, said: “We are now at crossroads. We are saying that we have an agreement with Bi-Courtney to manage the Lagos airport for 36 years. GAT was not concessioned to Bi-Courtney. It is still the property of FAAN.”

[chuks]

When this terminal was just getting going there was a Canadian company, I think it was, that had the contract to build it. They were run off the job by very thuggish tactics they were completely unprepared to counter. The winners were the usual shady crowd of completely unqualified "ten-percenters". Well, that was the rumour and it seemed to be the truth. We drove to work every day past the site, which looked like chaos much more than a normal construction site.

First thing, yes, it is built in the wrong place, far too close to the taxiway. There is simply no ramp space; even a child could see that! Who planned that?

Next, look at the shabby quality of its construction. You could have had Julius Berger Nigeria Ltd, for instance, put something like the terminal in Osubi up in just a year that would be a real source of national pride instead of just another running sore. Well, that wouldn't have seen all the little opportunities for profit, I guess. Remind me again about problems with corruption, or is that not a factor in all of this? You seriously want to tell me that building is worth eight figures? You wouldn't be allowed to build such an abortion in Germany but if you did I bet you could get it for about a half-million dollars, tops.

The sensible thing might be to just leave this MMA2 abortion in place, do an investigation into its real worth and write that off (not to speak of ever jailing anyone for bribery and corruption, heaven forbid), and then build a domestic wing up north of the international terminal with adequate ramp space and some sort of modern light rail connection for transit passengers. You could get JBN to do that for you in much less time than it would ever take to sort out the mess you now have.

This is just another of my fantasies, of course. I was out today in the sun without my hat on. It might simply be that I am a total racist, of course. I was sat next to a South African at lunch yesterday and whatever he has must be catching.

[atedo]

The members of AON shuld rise and call their executive to order. The people giving the "military command" that all members should move to MMA2 and operate domestic flights from there; their aircraft are not at risk (they owe none), their personnel are not at risk (they have none), their passengers not at risk (they do not oerate flights), they are not going to pay the exhorbitant bills.

Having a new airport in lOS is desirable as MMIA is highly delapitated, but not to have anything worse than MMIA. As discussed earlier, there are about 15 early hours departures out of LOS to various destination domestic, can MMA2 handle any of these?

Were is B3 in all of this? they are keeping quite. They also need the connection at MMIA but I think B3 is having a "stomach upset" or something.:ugh::rolleyes:

[limaboy]

I Think we all need to be very objective about this scenario and empathise for a bit. What will we do if we were VK having believed we will create a seamless operation in MMIA and What would we do if we were Bi courtney having spent all that money on MMA2. First i believe the main issue here is an agreement entered into by Govt with each party. VK MMIA as a hub and Bicourtney lone operator of domestic flights.

Which is fair? NONE, VK undue advantage over competitors yes it was good for the avaiation industry when it came in but is it bigger than all others NO. Bicourtney we move from a government monopoly to a private monopoly.

Which has legal precedence. Bicourtney. The agreement with Bicourtney was signed in 2003 while VK's was signed in 2004 or 2005.

The issue of Hub we should not misunderstand. A hub does not neccesarily have to be a single terminal, we have flights that arrive Heathrow and you have to transfer to Gatwick, same in Korea where you have to transfer to Gimpo from the international for some domestic flights. In heathrow we have terminals 1 to 4 but we dont notice the distance because there is an effecient means of transportation between the terminals. And even then what happens to other passengers arriving on Aero, Chanchangi, bellview etc if they are london bound passengers. What we need to address is the means of transferring these passengers in an efficient and safe manner.

Whatever we propose should be fair to all, neither parties request is fair to all, therefore i think an arrangement should be worked out where all parties agree that movement will be based on capacity and when the terminal is expanded then VK will move, it is definitly not possible for all aircraft operating today to safely operate out of MMA 2 but it is desirable for all airlines to operate from a position of equity therefore VK should move its domestic operations to MMA 2 when it can accomodate its capacity.

My thoughts

[Mr. Smith]

Looks like VK lost their bid to maintain domestic flights in MMIA


Virgin Loses Bid to Stay at MMIA

By Davidson Iriekpen, 02.23.2008
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A Federal High Court in Lagos, yesterday vacated the interim order it earlier gave on January 31 2008, restraining the federal government or its agencies from effecting the relocation of Virgin Nigeria from the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, to the newly-constructed domestic wing, MMA2.
The matter, which was at the last sitting (February 14, 2008) adjourned for ruling on March 24 2008, was however, brought forward yesterday.
The court, had following an ex-parte application by Virgin Nigeria, which had complained to it that the federal government breached the Memorandum of Mutual Understanding they both reached on September 28 2004, by ordering it to relocate its domestic operations from the international wing of the MMA to the domestic wing, restrained government from carrying through with its directive.
In his ruling yesterday, presiding judge, Justice Ibrahim Auta, struck out the case on the grounds that the court did not have the jurisdiction to entertain the matter and that there was an arbitration clause in the Memorandum of Mutual Undertaking (MMU) the airline signed with the federal government and thus referred the matter to arbitration.
According to Justice Auta, "the plaintiff’s (Virgin Nigeria) case is premature, and this court finds that it lacks jurisdiction to entertain the case. The parties should abide by the provision of clause A, which they mutually agreed to guide and govern their relationship. Therefore, the case is accordingly struck out and the ex-parte order made on January 31, 2008, is accordingly set aside."
In the course of arguing the case, the federal government through its counsel, Mr. Yusuf Ali (SAN), had pleaded with the court to vacate the interim order, arguing that Virgin Nigeria concealed material facts from the court, which is why the order should be vacated.
Ali argued that there was no privity of contract between the plaintiffs and the defendants in the Memorandum of Mutual Understanding, as the plaintiffs were not a party to the contract, adding that having not been party to the agreement, the order made by the court cannot be enjoyed by Virgin Nigeria.
Referring to the certificate of incorporation of Virgin Nigeria, dated December 21, 2004, Ali contended that the said Memorandum of Mutual Understanding was entered into on September 28, 2004, and Virgin cannot profit from a contract it was never a party to, which is what it had done by coming to court and obtaining an order.
But Virgin Nigeria on its part, argued that the court has the jurisdiction to hear the matter, notwithstanding the existence of arbitration. Its counsel, Mr. Demola Akerele (SAN) contended that the plaintiff had a right to file a matter in court, as the burden was on the defendants to prove the existence of arbitration.
Following the ruling yesterday, Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited, operators of the MMA2, said it welcomed the decision of the court to discharge the order, adding that it hoped that with the discharge of the order, all aviation stakeholders can now join hands and work together to enhance the travelling experience of customers.
In a statement signed by its spokesperson, Kadaria Ahmed-Adesina, the company said with the court ruling it would be looking forward to welcoming all airlines operating domestic schedules to the MMA2.
Virgin Nigeria on its part, said it has already lodged a motion for appeal at the Court of Appeal in Lagos, adding that with this, any action taken by the first defendant (the Ministry of Aviation) and second defendant (The Attorney General of the Federation) or any of their agencies, including FAAN and NCAA to evict their domestic operations from the MMIA, will amount to an unlawful action under Nigerian law.
The federal government had given January 31 2008, as deadline to airlines operating domestic schedules from the international terminal of the airport to relocate to the domestic wing.

[Mr. Smith]

looks like VK lost their bid to stay in MMIA.


Virgin Loses Bid to Stay at MMIA
By Davidson Iriekpen, 02.23.2008


A Federal High Court in Lagos, yesterday vacated the interim order it earlier gave on January 31 2008, restraining the federal government or its agencies from effecting the relocation of Virgin Nigeria from the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, to the newly-constructed domestic wing, MMA2.
The matter, which was at the last sitting (February 14, 2008) adjourned for ruling on March 24 2008, was however, brought forward yesterday.
The court, had following an ex-parte application by Virgin Nigeria, which had complained to it that the federal government breached the Memorandum of Mutual Understanding they both reached on September 28 2004, by ordering it to relocate its domestic operations from the international wing of the MMA to the domestic wing, restrained government from carrying through with its directive.
In his ruling yesterday, presiding judge, Justice Ibrahim Auta, struck out the case on the grounds that the court did not have the jurisdiction to entertain the matter and that there was an arbitration clause in the Memorandum of Mutual Undertaking (MMU) the airline signed with the federal government and thus referred the matter to arbitration.
According to Justice Auta, "the plaintiff’s (Virgin Nigeria) case is premature, and this court finds that it lacks jurisdiction to entertain the case. The parties should abide by the provision of clause A, which they mutually agreed to guide and govern their relationship. Therefore, the case is accordingly struck out and the ex-parte order made on January 31, 2008, is accordingly set aside."
In the course of arguing the case, the federal government through its counsel, Mr. Yusuf Ali (SAN), had pleaded with the court to vacate the interim order, arguing that Virgin Nigeria concealed material facts from the court, which is why the order should be vacated.
Ali argued that there was no privity of contract between the plaintiffs and the defendants in the Memorandum of Mutual Understanding, as the plaintiffs were not a party to the contract, adding that having not been party to the agreement, the order made by the court cannot be enjoyed by Virgin Nigeria.
Referring to the certificate of incorporation of Virgin Nigeria, dated December 21, 2004, Ali contended that the said Memorandum of Mutual Understanding was entered into on September 28, 2004, and Virgin cannot profit from a contract it was never a party to, which is what it had done by coming to court and obtaining an order.
But Virgin Nigeria on its part, argued that the court has the jurisdiction to hear the matter, notwithstanding the existence of arbitration. Its counsel, Mr. Demola Akerele (SAN) contended that the plaintiff had a right to file a matter in court, as the burden was on the defendants to prove the existence of arbitration.
Following the ruling yesterday, Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited, operators of the MMA2, said it welcomed the decision of the court to discharge the order, adding that it hoped that with the discharge of the order, all aviation stakeholders can now join hands and work together to enhance the travelling experience of customers.
In a statement signed by its spokesperson, Kadaria Ahmed-Adesina, the company said with the court ruling it would be looking forward to welcoming all airlines operating domestic schedules to the MMA2.
Virgin Nigeria on its part, said it has already lodged a motion for appeal at the Court of Appeal in Lagos, adding that with this, any action taken by the first defendant (the Ministry of Aviation) and second defendant (The Attorney General of the Federation) or any of their agencies, including FAAN and NCAA to evict their domestic operations from the MMIA, will amount to an unlawful action under Nigerian law.
The federal government had given January 31 2008, as deadline to airlines operating domestic schedules from the international terminal of the airport to relocate to the domestic wing.

[BALEWA]

"I can see clearly now that the the rain is gone!"

Maybe they should just join the ranks at the old ramp :sad:

[AVSEC]

FGN appears to be underestimating the resolve of richard branson.
anyone that can invest in space travel,has the resolve to close down NGA operations overnight.
They have done this before elsewhere.
They own nothing in Nigeria.Everything is leased.
Their services company employ all the staff and gain all the liabilities.
aircrafts are leased,and most technical personnel provided by agency companies not necessarily based in NGA.
Arik may leave as well because it would actually favour them being a non Nigerian operator.Their chairman and his directors may decide that they want to do business with an african country that actually needs them more than Arik needs them.
Ghana would love the virgin group and Arik to move over to Accra and develope viable domestic and regional carriers in partnership with GIA.

Ghana automatically would become the hub in west africa.
what a waste for Nigeria if cameroun or Ghana get to be the viable hub for west africa.
investors would be out of Nigeria and looking to that hub when it comes to investing in african aviation.
good bye new aircrafts,hello old model aircrafts and technical problems of the past.:ugh:

[Mr. Smith]

Personally, I believe Nigeria/Lagos is still the prime market to make a hub. Though this is a huge setback to VK operations, you can't ignore the market size of Lagos & Nigeria in general. Domestic operations in Nigeria will much easily sustain a new airline while they build up their regional/international network than with any other west african city. Also, a good enough remedy would be for Virgin to either (a) build their own terminal (assuming the clause that Bi-Courtney is responsible for maintaining all domestic flights is addressed) (b) push for adequate air-side transfer infrastructure.

[seper]

posted at vks check in counter yesterday


VIRGIN NIGERIA STATES THAT ANY ACTION TO RELOCATE ITS DOMESTIC OPERATIONS OUT OF MMIA REMAINS ILLEGAL

February 22nd 2008:

Virgin Nigeria has lodged an appeal against the ruling of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi which had earlier today, stated in its ruling that Virgin Nigeria does have a Memorandum of Mutual Undertaking with the FGN, that the Federal High Court does have jurisdiction to hear the matter, that Virgin Nigeria has a cause of action which is the breach of the MMU and that Virgin Nigeria can elect to come to court in spite of the existence of an arbitration clause in the MMU.

He however struck out the case on grounds that there was an arbitration clause in the MMU and thus the matter should be referred to arbitration. A motion for injunction pending appeal has also been lodged and this acts as constructive stay of execution to all Parties involved in the suit.

This means that any action taken by the first defendant (the Ministry of Aviation) and second defendant (The Attorney General of the Federation) or any of their agencies, including, but not limited to FAAN and NCAA to evict our domestic operations in any manner from the MMIA, will amount to an unlawful action under Nigerian law.

The Attorney General of the Federation has been notified of the implications of taking any action that will be contrary to the Supreme Court’s admonition in the case of Ojukwu v Government of Lagos State [1986] 1 NWLR Pt 18 pg 621 where Obaseki JSC said at pages 636 and 637 that “The rule is well settled by the courts of England and in this country that “where a suit is brought to enjoin certain activities of which the defendant has notice, the hands of the Defendant are effectually tied pending a hearing and determination even though no injunction or preliminary order be issued.”

“After a defendant has been notified of the pendency of a suit seeking an injunction against him, even though a temporary injunction be not granted, he acts at his peril and subject to the power of the court to restore the status wholly irrespective of the merits as may be ultimately decided.”





You may recall that Virgin Nigeria had two weeks ago, filed a suit against the directive to relocate its domestic operations to the MMA2, despite its MMU with the FGN. Arguments were taken by Virgin Nigeria and the Defendants and the matter was adjourned for ruling to 24th March 2008. Virgin Nigeria subsequently received a notice from the court late on Tuesday, 19th February 2008 that the matter had been brought forward to 22nd February 2008 for ruling. and Virgin Nigeria remains concerned that we may be forcefully ejected from our present operational base at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport if the legal process is not allowed to take its course.

We would like to thank our Customers for their support through this period, and we wish to affirm our commitment to building a safe and secure aviation sector, whilst adhering to internationally recognised operational standards.

As a Law abiding corporate citizen, Virgin Nigeria, believes in the rule of law in Nigeria, especially as it is the crucial platform on which our present Government stands.

[AVSEC]

wow.vIRGIN group is fighting this to the end.
Does not look good.
I suspect Branson is pissed off and probably has the support of the nigerian investors Board to either have terms of agreement maintained or pull out.
NGA has a lot to lose if arik and virgin group pull out.
which big player is going to want to invest under these rules of partiality.
I know our bosses would never consider it.
FGN should be properly advised by the responsible minister and her minister of state to be careful in their approach as all FDI are watching FGN's tactics with a lot of interest.
FAAN and NCAA should be sure to present an impartial and professionally responsible approach,so as to retain respect of international and african regulatory agencies,no matter the out come of this face off.

Good luck FGN,ARIK and VK group.

[jagunmolu]

My People,Whats all this hue and cry over relocation?If some dimwits did not accede or misrepresent issues,this whole thing would not even be news.As much as i do not support all this tirades,methinks its about time vk stopped trying to fight the FGN,If the management of vk feel so strongly about thier point of view,and cannot reconcile, they should just pack up and move thier hub next door to COTONOU,LOME and of course ACCRA ;where im sure they will remain in business profitably and force thier POV down the throats of constituted authority and get away with it.Any lawyer decieving vk that they will win against the Federal Might ,justs wants to fleece them of thier dough;History is replete with individuals,corporations et al;who have failed woefully against govt.Lick your wounds,formulate new strategies,survive and beat the odds ,thats why the thinkers get paid so much:My brethren,if your management insist on fighting govt,please start looking out elsewhere(I.B.O), before you wake up and find that the planes were pulled overnight.Everything is possible,Branson has no relations in Naija,only permanent business interests,and his friends were the leaders of yesterday,MY PEOPLE SAY(day don break winch)Wish vk all the best in its war of ATTRITION.May the best lawyer win.THE BEAT GOES ON,NO BE RICH MAN DEY WIN OO,NA STRONGMAN.................:=:rolleyes:

[chuks]

If someone does a straight business deal, such as this one that Virgin did, then they expect that it should survive AS a deal! Am I missing something here; do you suppose that the lawyers for Virgin were so thick that they couldn't write a contract that guaranteed their investment in a certain business model? I would bet it didn't include asking their pax to cope with the problems of making a connection between these two terminals! You don't suppose they really expected that to be part of the deal, do you?

On the face of it a casual reading does make it seem that Virgin invested a lot in building some facilities at International they are now being rudely turfed out of because of some funny business with MMA2. It doesn't seem to be the way to treat people who came prepared to do business, even on terms that were advantageous to themselves.

I don't know if things are ever going to change in Nigeria. I remember the advent of Virgin Nigeria and how it was going to usher in a new era and blah-blah-blah... It now reads very much like "business as usual," just another unwary set of investors sold a pup by Nigeria.

Fair or not, you would think that the government would want to avoid this sort of dispute simply because of the image problems.

I was told very strongly not to bother my present employers with any questions about looking for work in Nigeria. Angola is okay but Nigeria is a no-no. Well, part of it is the way that they locked up one of the senior pilots when he was forced to make a precautionary landing in Calabar on a ferry flight. Instead of giving him help and assistance they acted as if he were some sort of James Bond type in a small ag plane. Well, the airport thugs had their fun then but they also screwed the image of the country for this lot.

Some of you guys even seem to find this amusing, I think. Laugh if you like but then don't moan about the outside world being so negative about Nigeria.

Give us old fogies a break, by the way, if you want us easily to be able to read and respond to what you write. If you break stuff up into paragraphs, use standard spelling and punctuation, avoid violent colours that frighten the horses... then you might reach a wider audience than just your home boys. This is some sort of international forum, after all.

[GroskinTheFlyer]

Bi-Courtney is one of the companies shortlisted by the Fed Min of Agriculture to bid for supply of Fertilizer to farmers(2008 farming season)
Weekly Trust feb 23,08 page 13.

What a weird diversification or combination:confused:

[surely not]

Bi-Courtney is one of the companies shortlisted by the Fed Min of Agriculture to bid for supply of Fertilizer to farmers(2008 farming season)
Weekly Trust feb 23,08 page 13.

What a weird diversification or combination


Is it really that weird? Isn't a major part of fertiliser sh!t? :rolleyes::rolleyes:

[18left]

JAGUNMOLU in refererence to your post who looses?
Nigeria as a whole stand to loose a lot,as a few people have ponited out Virgin group have really nothing to loose.We all know nobody wins a battle against govt except amaechi,peter obi,audu of kogi so.............surpised

But lets think deeper,theres more likely hood of the virgin group pulling out than ARIK,what happens to the 1500 plus nigerian employees?where will bicourtney get the airplanes to park at MMA2 to repay his debt?
People say that virgin did not bring much to the table in setting up VK as such most of the cash came from local investors,now we understand why!do you blame them?they probably could see into the future!what happens to this local investors who are fellow nigerians?

Finally jagunmolu,if you where given a very lucrative deal by the govt and you signed an agreement,and you needed finance from a bank,if you owned the bank would you fund such a venture with what you know now?VK NITEL ET ALL
Would you not be scared that the deal will be reversed?

still who looses? nigerians loose plain and simple like african cup of nations

[Flying Touareg]

This matter will die quietly.VK has on its board some influential locals who i m sure will pull some strings at the right time.

VK has come to stay, and i am sure most Nigerian Officials are still using VK, and enjoying the services.The Nigerian Govt stands to lose more should VK pull out.

I am confused on Arik's position on the matter.The company agreed to move out of the international terminal, however the management is now making threats to move out of the country:confused:

[jagunmolu]

Yeah,who loses if nobody wins?satirically who really loses?Heads you win,Tails you lose,money has been spent by all parties involved and everyone ,s trying to recoup money spent on thier investment,i believe theres something called arbitration which is where such issues are settled ,not law courts where stands are taken and everything becomes personal to a point that even subtle colors start to offend the sensibilities of some (posters);not to talk of the investing public.VK has a lot of biggun investors ,i agree where were they? when all these issues seem to be getting to the critical point or PNR?Constructive dialogue between all parties could easily have checkmated this problem and not who is right or wrong.When the going gets tough ,the tough begs in private(commonsense)Lets see how much tough talk can get us,Yes its gonna affect us all,we are gonna be sorry,we are gonna lose,but since when did the govt start caring about all this?examples abound.Dear CHUKS.you dont like my colours you dont have to read my posts,its a free world where everybody is entitled to an opinion and colour,you may also not like the colour of my skin and i dont give a d:mad:mn,ITS CALLED PPRUNE AND I GUESS YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS IN WHATEVER COLOUR YOU SPEAK....X:{:{

[Rani]

>> Is it really that weird? Isn't a major part of fertiliser sh!t? <<

LMAO :}:}:E:) Good one :ok:

[chuks]

Are you the same colour as your posts, Jagunmolu? That's frightening, dude!

I dunno ... First thing, I have no idea how to get the wild colours. Next, I just let the words do the work. If the ideas aren't good enough, are bright colours really going to help? Black letters on a white background will just have to suffice, I guess.

I just knew I shouldn't have sat next to that South African at lunch the other day. His racist cooties have obviously infected me. Well spotted there, and from so far off!

No, actually, try not to be so boring. I expected someone to play the race card, just not over this issue. The only colour that matters in this game is "green", last time I checked or do you think Nigerians should be allowed to play by special rules when it comes to how they treat investors?

Eldridge Cleaver once said that "If you aren't part of the solution then you are part of the problem."

[jagunmolu]

I Stay with my brethren ,does not matter what color you expect?what is right is right and what is wrong is wrong.vk or arik or bi-courtney.lets try to be fair......still love your colors racist or not ,we love our color.GOD BLESS
:\

[Rani]

So what is Virgin Nigeria's contingency strategy, now that it might be forced out of MMIA afterall ?

[Flying Touareg]

So what is Virgin Nigeria's contingency strategy, now that it might be forced out of MMIA afterall ?


Rani,i dont think it will happen.

Moreover....http://allafrica.com/stories/200802260181.html

[Flying Touareg]

In a surprise move, the Nigerian Govt has asked Virgin Nigeria to relocate to MMA2 within seven days:confused:

Has Virgin Nigeria seriously stepped on toes to warrant this kind of marching order? How possible is it for VK to relocate to MMA2 within seven days?

And why was the Govt silent on Arik Air?


The Federal Government yesterday issued a final directive to the management of the Virgin Nigeria Airways Limited to relocate from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport to the Murtala Mohammed Domestic Terminal (2), MM2, within one week from yesterday.
A press statement signed by the Assistant Director (Press and Public Relations), Mr. Lawrence Ojabo, said the Federal Government’s order to Virgin Nigeria Airways yesterday was conveyed through a directive by the Minister of Transportation, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, to the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority (FAAN).
The statement read: “Minister of Transportation, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke, conveyed the directive of government to the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority (FAAN), Mr. Richard Aisuebeogun, in a letter dated Monday 4th August 2008“.
THISDAY ONLINE (http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=118825)

[MamaPut]

Virgin seems to be fighting back - the saga's not over yet folks!

f Virgin Nigeria Airways Limited obeys the instructions from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN’s) Managing Director, Richard Aisuebeogun, to relocated its domestic operations from the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos to the MM2 domestic terminal this week, then FAAN’s annual revenue would reduce by some N150 million.

This figure represents the N350 Passenger Service Charge on some 500,000 passengers which the airline pays to the FAAN. Now, the funds may be channelled into the bank accounts of Bi-Courtney Consortium Limited (BCC) to which the domestic wing of the Lagos Airport has been given on a controversial concession for 36 years. This is not good news for an agency which gets 75 per cent of its total internally generated revenue from the airport in Lagos. The airlines regulator’s boss has complained of being owed N3 billion by over a dozen airlines operating in the country.

Apart from the financial implications of this directive, it may further compound the problem of the lack of direction facing the aviation sector. Sunday Trust gathered that the initial plan of the federal government was to make the international wing of the MMIA in Lagos the hub airport for the West African sub-region – what Amsterdam and Frankfurt airports are to Europe.

In South-East Asia, the airport in Singapore serves as the hub for connecting the region. It was based on this vision that both Arik Air and Virgin Nigeria Airways were granted the permission to use the international airport for domestic flights. Those who took the decision wanted to regain part of the master plan for the MMIA airport, which was lost as a result of distortions. For instance, the international airport’s master plan, which was developed 30 years ago, has provision for eight aircraft parking fingers with the capacity for 60 aircraft at a time.

There is supposed to be a network between the international wing and the sub-regional and domestic wing, which was to be solely for use by the airport to facilitate unhindered movement between the two terminals. Today, there are only two parking fingers being utilised at the international airport, while the movement from the international terminal to the domestic terminal is hindered by the hectic traffic congestion around the airport because the connecting road is being used for movement from one part of Lagos to another. To further frustrate the master plan, the land that originally belongs to the airport is being used for other purposes.

Attempts to compel the Arik and Virgin to relocate to the MM2, which is being operated Bi-Courtney, a company given the monopoly to run the terminal, has led to a legal battle, which has been running for almost one year now. Both Arik and Virgin Nigeria had contended that their original agreement with the federal government stipulated that they should provide their domestic service from the international airport terminal, as a prelude for developing it as a hub airport for the West African sub-region.

But Bi-Courtney opposed this, saying it had an earlier agreement to develop and run a terminal for domestic flights.

Why did the government enter into deals with Virgin Nigeria and Arik Air, to make the international airport the hub airport for domestic and international flights, when it had signed an agreement with Bi-Courtney to concede the domestic terminal from Lagos to Bi-Courtney ? When our reporter asked a top official of the aviation ministry this question, the response was, “This is the kind of confusion we have inherited from the previous administration. The Bi-Courtney agreement was signed by Mrs Kema Chikwe, while the one with Virgin Nigeria was signed by Alhaji Isa Yuguda. In the last few months, it has been very difficult for us. We need the cooperation of all the stakeholders to be able to tackle it.”

The confusion seems to go beyond the idea of building a hub airport. It extends to the terms of the deal with Bi-Courtney and the concept of a monopoly in the agreement. Sunday Trust learnt that a former managing director of FAAN, Mallam Mohammed Yusuf, actually opposed the deal and refused to sign the controversial agreement on the concession. The 36-year concession of the domestic terminal to Bi-Courtney was a contentious issue, to the point that former President Olusegun Obasanjo could not sign it until his last few days in power.

A letter on this controversy dated October 4, 2006 the ministry said “on the 24th May, 2007, the president unambiguously rejected the 36 years tenure for the BOT arrangement.” Obasanjo was said to have pegged the tenure to 12 years. In the first few weeks of the Yar’adua administration, the tenure arrangement raged like a storm, as The Presidency was divided. Initially, it was argued that if domestic flights operated from the MMIA, drug traffickers could take advantage of it, and this would lead to security problems.

But Yar’Adua was said to have opposed this position, saying drug trafficking was not a domestic flights problem. He, therefore, asked top officials in The Presidency to look into the grey areas of the agreements and find a middle ground, such that would not give the international community the impression that Nigeria did not respect agreements. Since February 28th when the meeting was held, not much was heard about the issue until recently when the Minister of State for Aviation, Felix Hyet was quoted as saying government had conceded the terminal to Bi-Courtney for 36 years. The reasons were not very clear.

To register their disagreement with the government’s grant of the monopoly to Bi-Courtney, Arik Air had threatened to divest its investment from Nigeria if it was compelled to move its domestic operations to MM2. At the height of the face-off, the aviation authorities had to ‘bend the rule’ and, as a face-saving measure, grant Arik the permission to utilise the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) for its operations. Indeed, the monopoly is a source of disagreement, not just between the airlines and government, but even among top officials of the ministry of aviation, Sunday Trust learnt. “It does not make economic sense to remove monopoly from government and put it in the hand of an individual. Government should liberalise terminal utilisation,” Dr Imomi Kubo, a director in the Air Transport Management Department of the Ministry of Transportation said recently. The director argued that such monopoly would hamper the utilisation of the airport, reduce route expansion for airlines and affect manpower utilisation. Sunday Trust learnt that under the agreement with Bi-Courtney, no airport should be built in Lagos for another 36 years! The Lagos State government is said to be contesting this clause.

Earlier in the year, aviation workers union rose against the deal with Bi-Courtney as it would be the death knell for FAAN, especially. Since last year when the company took over the operations at the MM2 terminal, it has been collecting all the charges paid by airlines using the terminal. But as at the time of filing in this report, the company has not paid the mandatory 5% of its total revenue to FAAN. Asked why this is so, a top official of the aviation ministry said, “We would have to cross-check with FAAN to know why.” When our reporter called the General Manager, Public Affairs of FAAN, Mr. Akin Olukunle to obtain more information on the payment, he said he would have to cross-check with a department.

It was learnt last night that Virgin Nigeria has written a petition to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Chief Michael Aondoakaa, on FAAN’s relocation order, saying that the instruction contravened the rule of law as the case was still before the Court of Appeal. The case is due for hearing on October 7, 2008. Virgin Nigeria claimed that it spent N260 million on the D Finger of MMIA where it carries out domestic flights, and might ask for compensation if forced to leave the MMIA. But a top official of the aviation ministry said the Court of Appeal did not ask government to stay execution on the judgement of the lower court which says all airlines must move their domestic operations to MM2 in line with the agreement with the concessionaires, Bi-Courtney.

As the controversy rages on, the pertinent questions include, what happens to the master plan of the Lagos airport? Is the monopoly granted to Bi-Courtney of any economic benefit to Nigeria? When will the aviation sector come out of the wood to play its pivotal role of stimulating the Nigerian economy?

[ogechi]

here we go again:rolleyes: !!! do they have enough fingers at MMA2?
Aero seems to be monopolizing all the fingers at MMA2 these days!

What now VirginNigeria!:ugh:

[surely not]

Ogechi I think there are two fingers at MMA2 which are currently raised and being shown to VK :}

What an absolute nonsense this is. The new Domestic terminal is inadequate for it's current throughput let alone add in the VK flights.

VK liaised with FAAN every step of the way on the changes to MMIA to allow domestic operations at the same time as International and then, not now, would have been the time to raise the issues.

Good luck with the fightback VK, I hope that you have every success.

[5N AREABOY]

Surely Not, i guess VNA did not do it homework well before taking ownership of MMIA.
In Nigeria, You have to become a Victim before winning, and no condition is permanent. Of course, this has always been a bad message to investors and contradicts the governments investor friendly rule of law attitude/posture.

We wait to see what will happen today.

[seper]

Am even more worried about the traffic,it will be a mess in MMA2 with VK,plus a hotel????????????????

[atedo]

Virgin Nigeria: Why The Rule Of Law Should Prevail
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Again, last week, the minister of transport, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, directed the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to evict Virgin Nigeria (VN) from its present operational office at the Murtala Mohammed International terminal despite the fact that the matter is in court. This action does not tally with the government’s stance on the rule of law; and in any case, why are we so obsessed with Virgin moving out of the international terminal when more than 60% of the building is grossly under-utilised? Where, again, is this renewed pressure coming from when a court is already interpreting the Memorandum of Mutual Understanding (MOMU), the foundation of VN’s existence in our country? In reality, is VN really the problem or the system? Operationally, VN has been very responsible and, in terms of regulatory compliance, the airline has complied strictly and professionally. So, why so much hostility towards Virgin? Whose interest is actually being protected by coercing VN to move to MM2? Why can’t the minister wait for the wing of justice to take its course. And even if VN loses the case, can MM2 actually take the entire airline’s anticipated fleet?
If the reason for the sudden resurgence to force VN out of MM International Airport is because of security, then we must focus our attention not on the airport alone but also Port Harcourt, Abuja and Kano airports. These airports combine local and international flights from the same terminal building. All domestic flights in and out of Kano, for the past two years, use the international wing since the domestic angle has been under construction. Virgin and Arik airlines operate in and out of the international wing of Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja, without a single complaint about security issues. All flights into Port Harcourt operate from one terminal, which is not labeled as either international or domestic wing. Why is the nation weary of security danger at MM Airport alone? If the court has ruled against VN’s claim, then, no one has any further questions to ask; but if the case is still in court, let us trek gently until there is a decision from the court, which every party must obey as part of the rule of law.
I was among those who opposed the hostile takeover of the defunct Nigeria Airways although, technically, former President Obasanjo liquidated Nigeria Airways and single-handedly brought Virgin Nigeria to stand as our national carrier. If the former president had used his super-power to ask Richard Branson to buy out Nigeria Airways, kept the name for the sake of Nigerians and operated under that name, it would have been better. But in hindsight, that decision couldn’t have worked either, because Nigerians, as usual, with our cynical perception on issues, would have tagged it as selling the country’s assets to a foreign firm. In any case, Nigeria is the most difficult country to rule because no one sees any good in any decision, except his or her interest is protected through legal or illegal gains.
Yes, VN arrived with presidential anointment and with opened constricted doors, but what impact has the airline on Nigerians? For those in the industry, if we are to call a spade a spade, there is every reason to applaud VN’s vision and resilience.
Currently, Virgin Nigeria is the only airline recruiting young people as cadet pilots for training abroad. On Virgin’s website, Nigerians are encouraged to apply online for various positions without regard to tribe, religion and state of origin. Our people now occupy managerial positions across the spectrum.
VN has placed order for about twenty Embraer 170 and 190 E-jet series. It is expected to start taking delivery in October this year, and, by this arrangement, VN will require nearly 200 pilots in the next few years. The new drive in the airline is to recruit as many young Nigerians as possible for initial training in the United States. There is a move to encourage VN to train these young people at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, Zaria.
Why can’t we look at the positive side of what Virgin is doing in Nigeria as opposed to relocation to MM2? Is VN not paying its dues to the government? Virgin is one of the very few airlines in Nigeria that pays its government-regulated fees and charges. VN pays regularly and promptly to FAAN all fees and charges for the use of the terminal, while members of the AON are constantly in payment default.
Airline operators of Nigeria (AON) have been very critical of Virgin Nigeria’s office location at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport ever since it commenced operations. I do not think this is healthy for the industry. As of today, the only two airlines paying terminal navigational charges to the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) are Virgin Nigeria and Arik airlines. AON members have blatantly refused to accept this fee as part of their responsibilities, although they expect (NAMA) to provide up-to-date navigational, communications and surveillance services to keep the airspace safe. This area of non-payment to NAMA is where the minister critically needs to exert her authority.
AON members are suffering from what psychologists call "learned helplessness" because they lack "internal locust of control" and they are now attributing their woes to Virgin’s existence.
For the nation to take AON seriously, we want to see their contributions to the development of aviation in Nigeria, and we are not talking about how much they keep bickering at Virgin Nigeria or fighting for all the airlines in the country to patronize MM2. To me, AON is constantly attacking either the establishment or VN as opposed to making economic and safety is contributions to the airline business. Does AON still exist or is what we hear a faction of the actual association called "Airline Operators of Nigeria?" When was the last time a member of AON recruited cadet pilots for training in Zaria? When was the last meeting of AON and where was it held? The only airlines helping the industry, as we can see, are Virgin, Aero and Arik. It is highly unfortunate that AON constitute themselves into a nuisance, instead of fighting for ways to keep their business flourishing. Even if Virgin Nigeria moved to MM2 or any other terminal today, there wouldn’t be a significant drop in their load factor.
Airline business is very expensive and requires sound knowledge of aviation with regards to fleet acquisitions, fleet rationalisation, financing and minimising operational costs without compromising safety. Routes choice and operational analysis must be rationally and empirically studied to maximise revenues and ultimately profits, if an airline is to survive. Having easy money to buy aircraft without understanding the core values of the industry has led to the demise of over 20 airlines in Nigeria since 1980, and many more will go down the same way if the trend of over-indulgence on the part of government continues without regard to the rule of law.
Why so much venom against VN? If our government has entered into an agreement with an organisation, we must compel the government to abide by it. The present administration is clamouring for the rule of law; if this is so, we must respect the agreement signed with Virgin Nigeria, whether it was in error or not.
Competition is the name of the game and if VN has found its niche in this complex and volatile industry, it is left for AON members to face the market squarely with strategies for survival instead of trying to pull down a competitor. For those who are crying that VN should pack and move out of the international terminal of MM Airport, there is no law that says that all airlines in Nigeria must patronise MM2, and if such a law exists, it must be repealed immediately so as to foster competition. This is a free market and there must be choices. I hope the highly anticipated rule of law is not truncated before it comes on stream.

[Browright]

Security Problems abound in MMIA some totally unrelated to VNL others a peculiar problem due to vk accidentally mixing domestic and International passengers.

This was the case with the VK accra 2.30pm flight that boards at the same time as the abuja flight.

I understand this has been corrected but several other loop holes exist which FAAN should fix.

Other Airlines have been made to stop some operations that lead to mixing of passengers e.g B3 out of Port harcourt to Douala and no court case as yet.

Until this is done i think Vk should relocate to MMA2.

With proper planning of flights the terminal can accomodate the current domestic operations out of Lagos.

In addition to the avio bridges, there are remote boarding locations that extend to GAT.

[18left]

BBROWRIGHT and what should connecting passengers do?

[flying paddy]

As of today VK has been forced to suspend all domestic flights out of lagos.

[Browright]

MMA2 has a free shuttle bus service connecting MMA2 to MMIA. Works as it should for now

[whitedove2]

The forceful ejection of VNA's domestic ops out of MMIA in spite of the the case pending in court, must be viewed from a broader perspective.

What nationall security threat does this ops pose, that has not resulted in any incident since inception in 2005 ?

How come VNA must relocate it's domestic ops to MMA2 while Arik is allowed to operate out of the GAT which attracts much less charges ?

How many fingers are available at the MMA2 that can accomodate the scope of VNA'S daily flight ops.

The contribution and innovation that VNA had brought into Nigeria's aviation industry, which has showcased the nation, in the eyes of international regulatory bodies as having come of age, and has also provided a conducive enviroment for airlines like Arik etc from coming on board, apart from providing jobs and opportunities for thousands { and a source of livelyhood for thier dependents } can not be denied .

One would expect that government would support and encourage such an enterprise, and settle differences amicably, instead of wielding the big stick, that can greatly damage the goose that lays the golden egg.
A word is enough for the wise.
ps ; i expect some angry backlash from this piece :)

[arf1410]

I can't believe I'm actually coming to the defense of the Nigerian gov't...but I have a problem with the questions whitedove asks in the previous post...

the answers to those questions really has no bearing. If a court of law has issued a ruling, it needs to be enforced (by physical action if necessary) until a higher ranking court issues a contrary ruling. If the police (or other appropriate authority) do not enforce court orders, then it really makes a mockery of the powers of a federal gov't. oh wait...this is nigeria...never mind...

[NIJASEA]

If by chance this situation happened in a (supposed) 1st world country do any of you think the airline would have been moved out. I have been to MM2 it is a nice terminal but I forsee a major problem with checking in as we have quite a few flights leaving for abuja about the same time, guess we will have to tell pax to check in about 2 hours before dept. Who will refund VN for the cost of the refurbishment of MMIA, As everything the Airline will be stuck with the cost and we think the FG is trying to help the Industry.
In the past Aero has fixed up the PH military airport and lost out when forced to move out only to be told they could move back and they had to rebuild again.
My opinion for what its worth VN should have been left where it was.

[18left]

Browright is this bus operational,i have never seen it B/4,and if so does it take the airside or the traffic ridden road:{

Sources in VK tell me Bicourtney are trying to get VK to reduce thier flights:= as they cannot handle thier,volume,also they have cleary indicated that they cannot handle the 767,which vk uses on some abuja flights :eek:

Richard for sure will soon pack his bags

[whitedove2]

arf1410, this is the whole point of the arguement, the courts have not made any ruling, as the caes is coming up for hearing on the 7th of October, the last ruling based on the suit filed by VNA was that the status quo should be mainained by all parties until final determination of the case in court, and we all know that the federal govt. of Nigeria has made the rule of law one of it's strongest pillars.

Investros wishing to invest in Nigeria might be discouraged if it is apparent that signed agreements can disreagrded at the whims of government officials without following due process.

[5N AREABOY]

IN what could be said to be a dramatic u-turn, the Federal Government yesterday reversed itself on the orders to Virgin Nigeria to relocate its domestic operations out of the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.

This is after the airline moved its operations staff and equipment to the new terminal, MMA2, to begin domestic operation today.
News filtered late afternoon yesterday that government had to change its stance due to public outcry by passengers and investors.
A source in the aviation industry told journalists that the President was irked by the decision to force the airline out of the international terminal when there was a case on it in court.
General Sales Agent of Virgin Group, Chief John Adebanjo who spoke to The Guardian from the United States (U.S.), confirmed the reversal, adding that "it is the rule of law at play which shows that the President respects the rule of law as he has always preached."
The Federal Government gave a seven-day ultimatum to the airline last week and at the end of its expiration, domestic services of the airline were grounded. Following the order, diplomats, businessmen and investors as well as air passengers condemned government's action, describing it as "lawless."
Guardian Newspapers (http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/news/article18//indexn3_html?pdate=140808&ptitle=Govt%20reverses%20self%20over%20Virgin%20Nigeria's%20 relocation&cpdate=140808)

[Mr. Smith]

Has anyone noticed all VK flights except JoBurg & London are listed "TILL" August 30/31? Anyone know why?

[Shunanny]

VK are introducing the first of its 10 EMB175/195 in september.
So I guess schedule changes and expansin into new routes are likely, that would explain why their time table shows "till august30/32":suspect:

[Mugu Number Ten]

FBN, UBA Tipped To Buy Shares

Virgin Atlantic Limited (VAL), the core investor in Nigeria's troubled flag carrier, Virgin Nigeria Airlines (VNA), is set to reduce its shareholding in the Nigerian venture from 49 per cent to 7 per cent. The airline is therefore shopping for an investor to pick up 42 per cent of its shares in VNA.

LEADERSHIP SUNDAY reliably gathered that the airline is shopping for an issuing house to handle the private placement that would emanate from the divestment. It was gathered that First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Plc and United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc were top on the list of the financial institutions targeted by the airline for underwriting the planned share purchase.
The airline has approached First Bank to underwrite the acquisition of VAL's 42 per cent shareholding in VNA at the cost of $25 million. It was also learnt that UBA had earlier been approached with the offer, but it was not clear why the bank that holds 5.25 per cent of VNA through its subsidiaries could not snatch the offer.
The plan is that either UBA or FBN would underwrite 42 per cent of VAL's holdings in VNA, warehouse the shares and then sell them through private placement within nine months. The amount for the underwriting arrangement would be secured by executed share purchase agreement between VAL and VNA and an executed board resolution of VAL authorising the sale of 42 per cent of its holdings in VNA.
VNA's director of corporate communications, Mr. Larry Agose, who refused to confirm the story, however, told LEADERSHIP SUNDAY in a telephone interview that the airline has not decided on an issuing house for the underwriting of the divested shares.
VNA made a turnover of N20.9 billion in its operations in 2007 during which period it recorded a loss of N9.5 billion.
Airline industry operators contend that Sir Richard Branson, the chief executive of VAL, was under pressure from Singapore Airlines, a key shareholder in VAL, to dump its loss-churning venture in Nigeria. "Singapore Airlines has told Branson to choose between it (Singapore Airlines) and Virgin Nigeria Airlines," said our source who would not want his name in print.
VNA's domestic operations were grounded last week by the federal government following the airline's refusal to relocate its domestic operations to Terminal 2 of the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Ikeja, known as MMA2.
Industry operators blame VNA's huge operational losses on the fact that VAL's lease rental to VNA were too high. They also contend that VNA pays $250, 000 monthly to VAL for the use of its brand name - a sum, they said, was too high for an airline struggling with teething problems at a time many airlines were going bankrupt because of the high cost of fuel. It was also argued that the expatriate staff seconded to VNA was too expensive for the budding airline as each of them costs the airline an average of 100, 000 pounds monthly.
Besides, VNA's salary structure is said to be above industry standard in the country, while the airline's staff to aircraft ratio is too high. "The airline has too many staff members," said our source.
However, former minister of aviation and current governor of Bauchi State, Malam Isa Yuguda, who called this reporter to speak on the travails of VNA, lamented that the forced relocation of the flag carrier's domestic operations to MMA2 was a disservice to the nation's aviation industry.
The governor, as minister of aviation in 2004, was instrumental in the emergence of VNA.
He said the decision to allow the flag carrier to run its domestic operations from the international wing of MMA was premised on the fact that Lagos was to serve as a hub for airlines in Africa.
He contended that former president Olusegun Obasanjo gave him the permission as minister of aviation to sign the undertaking allowing VNA to run its domestic operations from the international wing of MMA because that was the wisest thing to do at the moment because of the synergy that the airline would derive from it.
The governor said that the decision to breach the agreement allowing VNA to run its domestic operations from the international wing of MMA has sent wrong signals to foreign investors.
"Richard Branson is a reference point. Any investor in Europe coming to do business in Nigeria would certainly ask him his experience in the country," he said, wondering what Branson would narrate to prospective investors, given government's decision to breach the agreement reached with him.

[Frangible]

If the above story is true, does it not mean that, effectively, the government actions were the last straw, and now Branson is taking his money to places where he doesn't get dicked around like this? Or is there another interpretation?

Another question. Is there or isn't there a reliable bus transfer service from MMA2 to MMIA and back within the perimeter of the airport? Seems to me that, ignoring for now whether MMA2 has the capacity for VK and others' domestic operations, such a bus service would go a long way to resolving the problems associated with operating out of two terminals.

[Mr. Smith]

Last I checked (8mnths ago) there was no direct airside transfer between the two terminals. I do know there is/was something in the works by Bi-Courtney to provide transfer services, but I don't know the status of that. Though airside transfer would lessen the blow of operating out of two terminals, the fact still remains there is NO through check-in. Passengers would still have to get their luggage and re-checkin and go through security at the next terminal. Perhaps understandable when coming into the country, but it hardly makes send if for instance you leave Abuja en-route to South Africa you would checkin both at Abuja grab your bags at MMA2, proceed to MMIA and do the dance all over again. As Murtala is the primary gateway in/out of Nigeria it hardly makes sense to make everyone re-checkin when they get to Lagos. Think of the congestion if not just Lagosians, but everyone around the country who conneects via Lagos is forced to go through security again.

[Frangible]

After appearing to want to resolve the problems it seems now that the government has decided to hang tough and tell VK to walk. Maybe it was in response to the news of Virgin ATlantic divesting most of its shares in VK, or maybe it precipitated it, but today government spokesmen accused Virgin of attempting to dictate to the government, we aren't going to be pushed around, looking after Nigeria's interests, etc. etc. They are claiming that Yuguda, the aviation minister who signed the agreement with Virgin, was wrong and misguided (when in fact everyone knows he was imply the instrument of Obasanjo's decision to get VN to act as national carrier). I wonder if Mr Yar'Adua and his advisers have really thought this through.

[walla1]

and what is vk plan for pilots ? if the erj's are still on the way even in this mess and the fact that they cant take any ICAO rated pilots, only JAR and FAA and after they dropped everyone else that was waiting to get in. what will they do when the planes arrive ?

[5N AREABOY]

and what is vk plan for pilots ? if the erj's are still on the way even in this mess and the fact that they cant take any ICAO rated pilots, only JAR and FAA and after they dropped everyone else that was waiting to get in. what will they do when the planes arrive ?


Walla1, there are qualified NCAA (Nigerian License) rated pilots and i know VNA is recruiting some at the moment for the embraer.:ok:

Anybody knows whether the 2 e-jets are still going to be delivered this year despite the problems VNA is facing??

[dejidip]

BRETHREN,After following this thread passionately since this saga started i now believe that JAGUNMOLU is the man that saw tomorrow,he pleaded for patience and that at the right time,we will get to see Masquerades face or feel its wrath. Its now very clear where all the brouhaha was headed,It might not be over yet i guess,It will depend on how the Almighty legal adviser to vk treads next.Either the Oyibo management did not listen to good advise or they deciced on a deliberate action to arrive at this crossroads, to get an excuse to divest thier bread,nothing new under the sun,its happened before in other countries to the same people.So it is left to the workforce to decide on their future,Bran always knew where he was headed,he's a shrewd bussinessman,its the other lot im afraid for,anyway life goes on.THE RACE IS NOT FOR THE SWIFT,NOR THE BATTLE FOR THE STRONG;BUT OF THE LORD THAT SHOWETH MERCY::suspect::hmm: ;)

[Rani]

huh?:suspect:

[whitedove2]

Folks should not waste thier tears on VK, as the management has declared that they are quite happy to operate their domestic flights from MMA2, as their pax load has increased substantially since thier forced relocation.
This is not suprising as the government spokesman ( special adviser Mr Adeniyi ) was quoted all over the media as saying that one of the conditions VK gave for setting up a flag carrier right from inception was that the federal airport authority must co-operate with VK in making sure that it's pax are offered the safest operating practices in compliance with ICAO standards and recommended practices. This is the kind of statement that Nigerians like to hear and coming from the government spokesman it is given credibility.
It appears that what the enemy had meant for evil has been turned into good ! :O

[Browright]

Buried in N16 Billion Debt. VNL needs all the passengers and more to survive. Improved load factors just won't cut it

[FlyingNFlying]

Buried in N16 Billion Debt.


Browright, i doubt if there is any successful company not buried in debt:confused:

[Browright]

Successful companies in debt:confused: Loans and Borrowings are allowed to a particular debt to equity ratio for companies. Not to be confused with operating loss.

If VNL was quoted on a credible stock exchange the share price will be free falling now

[jagunmolu]

The Beat Goes On,huh?brace 4 .................................goodluck:)

[seper]

and what would happen to bicourtneys share price? with all its bank debts?

[Frangible]

Whitedove, how can VK be happy at MMA2 when it means their arriving international pax can't even through-ticket to domestic destinations from abroad. Correct me please, but as I understand it, MMA2 is, to all intents and purposes, a new separate airport! If you go on MMA2's new web-site you will see absolutely no reference to how people are supposed to get from MMIA to MMA2. I have not heard any updates, but it still seems that pax who want to get from one terminal to the other cannot do so airside, and have to get taxis with all their bags, and some are missing their flights because of the terrible traffic. I hope I am wrong about this, but this really is nuts. Instead of integrating the airport, the government is allowing it to be split up, despite the fact that both these terminals (or both these "airports") use the same runway!

I am still very curious to know if MMA2's 12 gates are handling all of LOS' normal domestic traffic, or whether restrictions are being imposed, or whether they are only coping with the demand because Arik is at the GA terminal.

[jagunmolu]

FRANGY,
All your thots and observations are TRUE and the FGN by Executive FIAT does not give a damn hoot methinks they believe they are providing for the taxi drivers cum touts and almighty militants A.K.A [ARMED ROBBERS] I suggest we all watch our backs and bags while making the 2km journey that takes 2hrs aluta continua,its a tourist amusement...................:eek::confused:

[whitedove2]

Frangible, all your observations are spot on, these are all the constraints that VK had been high-lighting all the while.
My point was that VK is making the best out of a bad situation.
What beats me is why it's so difficult for either FAAN, FGN, Aviation/Transport ministry or whoever is responsible to put in place facilities infrastructure and logistics for transfer of pax and their luggage from the MMA2 / GAT to the international airport, either via dedicated coaches, or light rail as in the case between north and south terminal at LGW.
Imagine a VK pax from Abuja or Port Harcourt travelling to London or Jo'burgh through Lagos, after arriving in Lagos having to reclaim their bags, then look for safe affordable transport to the international airport before re-checking in all over again.
Thankfully, since VK resorted to the only legal way to challenge government action, and government kicked them out even before final judgement was delivered, they had the fortitude to adjust, in spite of all the difficulties.

[bugg smasher]

it seems now that the government has decided to hang tough and tell VK to walk

So, a major celebrity in international aviation provides the rare opportunity for Nigerians to prove themselves, backs the company up with a world-wide recognized brand, finances not only the startup, but supplies the aircraft and expertise as well, and the current flavor of Nigerian power broker decides that it wants a bigger, greedier slice of the pie? Send in the thugs to prove their point?

Am I missing something here?

[Frangible]

Strictly speaking, the dilemma was between honouring the agreement of a previous government to whom no allegiance was owed or giving in to the demands of the "influential" owners of the new terminal for reasons one can only speculate about :}. But you are probably not far from the truth although the truth in Nigeria is always complicated.

(Still trying to find out, btw, whether MMA2 can handle all LOS domestic traffic).

[Skylion]

It seems that the opportunity for Nigeria to have a well run, successful and internationally branded carrier is being rejected. It would not be surprising if any investor, faced with ongoing losses and debilitating ongoing hassle came to the conclusion that their is neither profit nor fun to be had from running this venture. Why should investors or managers feel good about putting in the effort needed to stick with this venture.?If Monday mornings,- or the prospect of them from Sunday midday onwards feel like hell and Friday comes with eveyone in an exhausted heap because they have worked their guts out but theres is no chance of ultimate success ,it's simply not worth carying on. There has to be maximum Government backing and a sweeping away of any obstacles to success, whether this be for work permits or facilities at Lagos airport which should be the regional hub for west Africa. There has to be international transit without visa so transit passengers make connections easily and swiftly, full security of baggage, very simple international/domestic transfer indeally withing the same building, failing which via an airside high quality coach transfer or a shuttle train ,and nothing but pleasantness to passengers on the part of all the authorities and airline staff.
If the government do not return to the original promised helpful mode and honour agreements made by its predcessor ,anyone would advise the owners of VK to abandon or sell the venture as soon as they can and go elsewhere. The problem right now though is who would buy it?

[Leezyjet]

The amusing thing is, that other potential international investors will be aware of what has happened to VK, and will most likely take their cash and business elsewhere (unless it is something specific that Nigeria has like oil) so the Nigerian Government has shafted the country well and truly in other areas too - however, I doubt that the Government officals themselves will be too bothered as they are sorted for life !!.

I think SRB should keep the airline going, but take his train set and play elsewhere, and re-name it Virgin Africa - base themselves in some other country that would appreciate it and expand throughout the African continent rather than just Nigeria.

:ok: