News filtered into the country’s aviation sector, on Saturday, that Virgin Atlantic Airways has concluded plans to quit the Nigerian airspace.
The report also alleged that all its Nigerian crew and other personnel would soon be laid-off by the airline in preparation to its final stopping of flight operations in the country.
According to the report, it was alleged that the Nigerian crew were only given three weeks’ notice without any severance package regardless of their length of service with the airline.
The report equally alleged that among its Nigerian staff to be sacked were 20 air hostesses.
The British mega carrier had in 2014 closed its Nigerian call centre and let go of all the Nigerian staff working in that department.
All efforts made to get across to top officers of the airline in Nigeria failed as the time of filing this report.
Also, calls made to the leaderships of the two leading unions in the country’s aviation industry where most of the affected staff are members were not responded to.
The unions are the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN).
Virgin Atlantic had in 2005 set up a joint venture with the former Virgin Nigeria, but pulled out of the deal in 2009 after some disagreement with the Federal Government.
The Chairman of the company, Mr. Richard Branson, had said some time in 2012 that he was weary about doing business in Nigeria.
“We fought daily battle against government agents who wanted to daily make fortune from us, politicians who saw the government 49 per cent as a meal to seek for all kinds of favour…watchdogs (regulatory body) that didn’t know what to do and persistently asking for bribes at any point…Nigeria people are generally nice, but the politicians are very insane…that may be irony because the people make up the politicians.
“But those politicians are selfish…we did make N3 billion for the Federal Government of Nigeria during the joint venture…realising that the government didn’t bring anything to the table/partnership except dubious debts by the previous carrier, Nigeria Airways…The joint venture should have been the biggest African carrier by now if the partnership was allowed to grow, but the politicians killed it…Nigeria is a country we shall never consider to doing business AGAIN"
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