Branson Citing that Air Jamaica could not continue to swallow mounting losses, Virgin Atlantic boss Sir Richard Branson yesterday said the sale of the London route to his airline was in the best interest of Jamaicans.
Last week, news surfaced that Air Jamaica sold its London route to Virgin Atlantic, beating out British Airways.
Several tourism interests and members of the Jamaican Diaspora (United Kingdom) have bashed the sale agreement, while airline authorities and the Jamaican Government have remained tight-lipped about the purchase.
However, Sir Richard, who was in South Africa yesterday, sought to explain why the agreement is the best decision for the local airline and the Jamaican economy.
He said: "We were approached by the management of Air Jamaica, who at the same time approached British Airways (BA), to see if we were interested in taking over Air Jamaica's loss-making services and acquiring its slots at London Heathrow.
"When it became clear to us that BA might be the front-runner, we made our representations to the Jamaican Government about the need for traveller choice, market competition and a fresh code-share arrangement between ourselves and Air Jamaica."
The statement, which was issued yesterday, further read: "Virgin Atlantic, which has been kindly listened to by the Government, has since signed a memorandum of understanding with Air Jamaica to operate two services a week between London Gatwick and Kingston, in addition to our existing two flights a week between Gatwick and Montego Bay. We have also reached a code-share agreement where the Air Jamaica code will be on all Virgin Atlantic flights to the U.K.
"In today's aviation world, Air Jamaica cannot continue to swallow the losses mounting from a single daily service where the economics are not viable. It is expensive operating a wide-bodied aircraft each day, and one that is very different from the rest of its fleet. Record fuel prices are adding millions of dollars to airline costs.
"When we start flying from October, using a Boeing 747, we will be offering 190,000 seats between the island and the U.K., a fraction less than Air Jamaica's current offering."
Jamaica Tourist Board Chairman Dennis Morrison last Thursday said that Air Jamaica's operating at a loss of US$20 million (J$1.35 billion) a year on the London route was unsustainable, and admitted the national airline was reviewing its options with Virgin Atlantic and British Airways.
