Is President Olusegun Obasanjo's proposed National Dialogue the way forward for Nigeria?
We Won�t Allow Virgin Nigeria Deal � US
From Iyefu Adoba in Abuja, 12.17.2004
The United States government has formally said it will not allow the proposed Virgin Nigeria Airline to operate direct flights into its country the same way the United Kingdom where Virgin Atlantic is based has refused to open the London market to US airlines. Following the liquidation of Nigeria Airways, Virgin Atlantic got the nod of the Federal Government to operaate a new national carrier to be called Virgin Nigeria. Virgin Atlantic was allocated 49 per cent equity interst in the new airline which is expected to begin operation January 2005 and fly Lagos-New York route among others. The balance of 51 per cent is reserved for Nigerian institutional investors. Economic Counsellor of the Embassy of the United States, Mr. Joseph Gregoire, at a news briefing in Abuja yesterday said: "It is very difficult, and very unfair to permit the airlines of an anti-competitive regime such as the UK to benefit from the unrestricted opportunity available under the US-Nigeria Open Skies Agreement. Especially so when the UK has repeatedly failed to open the London market to additional US airlines and Virgin has been vocal in urging its government to keep them out," he said. The US Government objection to Virgin Atlantic, he explained, is hinged on the basis of information from representatives of Virgin Atlantic and representatives of the Nigerian Embassy in Washington who told the US Government in July that indeed Virgin Nigeria would be a company controlled by Virgin Atlantic. The burden of proof he, however, added rests on Nigeria. Virgin Nigeria, he further said, has not made a formal request to the US authority that it be permitted to fly to the US. "One could infer that the request has not been made because of the conversations that took place between representatives of Virgin Atlantic and the US Government back in July where it was made unmistakably clear that if Virgin Nigeria would request for authorization to fly from Lagos to say New York, Virgin Nigeria would probably face serious obstacles to having that request granted," said Gregoire. "We face this current situation with Virgin Nigeria with deep regret after working so closely with Nigeria for so many years to establish Nigerian service in the market. But this should not come as a shock to Nigeria; we made our concerns known to both Virgin Atlantic and to the Nigerian Government well in advance of conclusion of the partnership creating Virgin Nigeria," he added. He alleged that Virgin Atlantic, a United Kingdom registered airline, wishes to use Nigeria as the base for operations to benefit from the Open Skies Agreement signed between Nigeria and the United States in 2000. Gregoire said if Nigeria Air were to be wholly owned by Nigeria, it is quite probable that it would provide air services to the United States under the Open Skies Agreement. Both Gregoire and Claudia Anyaso of the Public Affairs Section of the US Embassy, however, reassured that the situation will not degenerate into "an air war," neither would it have adverse repercussions on the relationship between Nigeria and the US. "Virgin Nigeria or Nigeria Eagle airlines would still be poised to serve both the local and regional market and I should think that there are opportunities that could be developed without jeopardizing the relationship between both the US and Nigeria," said Gregoire. The US Government, according to Gregoire, has a long standing interest in improving air links with Africa and would welcome direct air service between the United States and Nigeria by a new Nigerian airline. The Counselor explained that whereas Virgin Nigeria would meet obstacles in operating flights from Nigeria to cities in the United States, he added that the government is not against a Nigerian partnership with other airlines such as KLM, Lufthansa, Air France or even South African Air. "We can understand that Nigeria may seek a foreign partner for a period of time in order to get a new airline up and running. And we accept that concept with few questions, but nonetheless very important questions," he said. "There are several options that could be quite attractive to Nigeria if Nigeria had selected KLM, Air France, Lufthansa or possibly South African Airways as a partner. It is most probable that the obstacles that Virgin Nigeria faces now would not have been obstacles that the alternative might have before if it had that kind of agreement with another international airline. "I know the Government negotiated intensively with South Africa with the view to promoting an international airline that might have been able to meet the criteria of the US under the Open Skies Agreement. I know that we would have fewer concerns had the partnership been with other airlines such as KLM because they have Open Skies Agreement with the US." "Notwithstanding this particular issue, the relationship between the US and Nigeria is promising," reiterated Gregoire who also said it is possible that by April next year, Continental Air will begin flight operations between Lagos and American cities. A substantial part of Americans travel to Nigeria relates to the oil and gas companies with headquarters in Texas where Continental Air is based. The envoy explained that the airline probably saw a unique opportunity for a very attractive market and are presently doing whatever they can to get services to Nigeria as quickly as possible, "probably as early as April and no later than June to have services between Nigeria and the US." According to him, for over years the US Department of Transportation worked closely with Nigerian aviation authorities, spending millions of Dollars on training, technical assistance and equipment to enable Nigeria meet the international safety and security standards to launch its own air services with the specific reason for getting the Nigerian carrier service into the US market.
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