Again, Virgin Nigeria Shifts Take-off Date

From Cletus Akwaya in Abuja

The planned commencement of flight operations by the country's new national flag carrier, Virgin Nigeria, slated for January 2005 may not be as the company is yet to conclude arrangements to that effect.

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The Federal Government has however announced a N2.6 billion subsidy for the 56,000 Muslim pilgrims for the next year's Hajj in Saudi Arabia. The airlift of the pilgrims commences today with inaugural flights in Sokoto, Kano and Abuja airports.

Speaking on the need to shift the commencement of operations by Virgin Nigeria, Minister of Aviation, Alhaji Isa Yuguda, while receiving a delegation of the National Hajj Committee in his office, said although the Federal Government would like the new carrier to go into business immediately, it could not push it because it was entirely a private sector initiative.

The Minister had initially indicated that Virgin Nigeria would commence operations on October 1.

But the agreement, which gave birth to Virgin Nigeria brand as the new national flag carrier was only launched on September 27, in Abuja. At the launching, Yuguda again said the new airline would start scheduled flight in January 2005.

Yesterday, however, the Minister regretted that the whole process of getting the airline to start full business was so complex and therefore could not be completed as scheduled.

"The Government has done its bit. The fault is with the company. We cannot push them to start as soon as we wish as government is not making money available; we cannot force them," he stated.

He disclosed however that from the review report submitted by the interim board of the company to the Federal Government, arrangements were in top gear to commence operations in a staggered manner during the first quarter of next year.

The Virgin Nigeria deal provides for 49 per cent ownership by the technical partner, Virgin Atlantic of UK, while Nigerian institutional investors are expected to take up the balance of the equity, which in total is $50 million.

The company has already set up an interim board headed by former Minister of Defence, Lt. Gen. Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma and has started recruitment of different categories of staff.

Last week, the US government said it was opposed to the exclusive allocation of the Lagos New York route to the new airline as the development was in breach of the open skies agreement existing between Nigeria and US.

Yuguda in announcing the N2.6 billion subsidy on Hajj operations explained that the Federal Government was not giving out the money directly but through waivers to the airlines involved in the airlift operations.

"It is noteworthy to state that despite budgetary constraints, Government has waived the various charges due the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigerian civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) amounting to a whopping sum of N2.6 billion," he announced to the delegation led by Dr. Badmus Yusuf.

He said the charges which are legitimate revenues of the aviation sector parastatals would have pushed up the cost of airfares by pilgrims if the Federal Government had insisted on collecting them. He also gave indications that the waiver would be stopped if the state of the treasury would not support such a gesture in the future.

Apart from the waiver, the Minister disclosed that he had in the course of the year obtained approval from Government to rehabilitate the airports being used for the airlift.

"Accordingly, the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos; Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) Kano; Kaduna International Airport (KIA); Yola Airport; Ilorin Airport; Port Harcourt International Airport; Sultan Abubakar Sadiq International Airport (Sokoto) and Minna Airport which from this year joined the Hajj airlift programme have all been refitted with infrastructure and equipment that would ensure a hitch free airlift," the minister added.

He said NAMA has under his instructions deployed new navigational aids to the airports and that NCAA officials have also been deployed to the airports to ensure that the rights of pilgrims were not violated during this period. The NCAA is also to ensure that operators conform to national and international operating standards.

The Minister threatened to deal decisively with any airline, which for any reason abandoned pilgrims in the airports with no concrete plans to airlift them to their destinations.

"It will be a serious violation of the service delivery reform programme of this administration as from this year to dump pilgrims in the airports longer than necessary. Participating airlines are at the risk of losing their status if found guilty of causing hardship to the pilgrims" he warned. He also said it was the responsibility of airlines to liase with the State Pilgrims Boards to agree on a seamless flow that will generate efficiency and effectiveness on airlift of out- going and returning pilgrims.

And to underscore his seriousness, the Minister directed that copies of the 'Guidelines and Requirements For Pilgrimage Operations' made by his Ministry should be distributed to all stakeholders in the exercise.

He said the Sky Aviation Handling Company (SAHCOL) had been directed to deploy men and equipment to all designated Hajj airports to facilitate the timely and secure processing of all baggage.

Chairman of the Aviation Sub-Committee of the National Hajj Committee, Yusuf who represented the National Chairman, Prof. Abubakar Gwandu told the Minister that the committee had made effective plans to ensure a hitch free Hajj operations.

For instance, he disclosed that the Committee had made plans to reduce the entire operations from 40 days, as was the case in the past to 30 days.

He said a new luggage policy had also been put in place which allows pilgrims to carry suit cases not exceeding 40 kg and hand luggage not exceeding 10kg Yusuf said any luggage outside the stipulated weight measures would be handled by a special cargo flight arrangement for that purpose.

He said a special flight had been arranged for top government functionaries who would not have much time to enable them arrive Saudi Arabia a day to the religious rites and to return immediately on completion of the rites.

The airlift operations, which commence today according to Yusuf, would end on January 12, while return of pilgrims would start on January 17 and end on February 7. Yusuf who assured that concrete measures had been taken to educate pilgrims on their rights, privileges and obligations during the visit to the holy land advised pilgrims to adhere strictly to the instructions given them during orientation programmes in their respective camps.