Branson enters virgin territory
2004-09-28 16:04
London - Virgin Group boss Richard Branson said Tuesday he has signed an agreement with Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo to launch a new airline out of the west African nation that will be majority owned by Nigerian investors.
Branson's Virgin Atlantic Airways will hold a 49% stake in Virgin Nigeria, which is expected to create thousands of jobs in the west African nation.
It will start flying early next year on both domestic routes and on routes between Nigeria, the United States, Europe and the Middle East, Branson said.
"Nigeria is taking yet another bold step forward, and all of us at Virgin are honored and excited to be selected by the Nigerian government to play a role in creating a new, 21st-century airline for Nigeria's 133m people," Branson said Tuesday in a statement issued at the formal launch in Abuja, Nigeria.
Branson said initial investment is likely to be around US$50m, with Virgin Atlantic's contribution likely to be around US$24.5m.
It has been a busy year for the British entrepreneur.
On Monday, he announced that Virgin plans to launch commercial space flights over the next few years. Earlier this year, his Virgin Rail company launched new high-speed trains on its route along the west coast of Britain.
Based in the Nigerian capital, Lagos, Virgin Nigeria will operate domestic routes, including Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt. Regional routes include Abidjan, Accra and Dakar. And it will operate international flights to the United States, Europe and the Middle East.
It will be run separately from the existing Virgin Atlantic services between Britain and Nigeria, which will continue.
The Nigerian venture is based on the 2000 launch of Virgin Blue, Branson's low-fare Australian airline.
He hopes to secure agreement to start a similar Virgin America operation next year.
In Monday's announcement, Branson said Virgin has signed an agreement with pioneering aviation designer Burt Rutan to build an aircraft based on Rutan's SpaceShipOne vessel.
SpaceShipOne cracked the barrier to manned commercial space flight in June by flying 328 491 feet (100 000m) above Earth, just a little more than 400 feet (121m) above the distance scientists widely consider to be the boundary of space. The flight lasted 90 minutes.
The new service will be called Virgin Galactic and expects to fly 3 000 new astronauts within five years, Branson said.
- AP