Samoan PM slams Virgin

SAMOA’S Prime Minister has blasted Virgin Australia over its push to operate more services to the island nation, sticking by a decision to reject the carrier’s ambitions ( TD 31 Oct).

The country’s leader Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi has reportedly denounced Virgin as “stupid” for selling tickets on flights it had not yet been licensed to operate, and accused it of “hiding behind officials” in the Australian Govt.

In an interview with the Samoa Observer, Tuilaepa said his government would not yield to threats from Australian officials and stood by its decision.

The dispute stems from the termination of joint venture services between Virgin and the Samoan Government, which end on 05 Dec.

Samoa has announced the creation of a new airline to operate to Australia and New Zealand, Samoa Airways, while Virgin has said it will offer its own flights in competition.

While direct flights from Australia are unaffected, Virgin’s hopes of operating services via New Zealand were rejected.

“We have told them they can fly directly from Australia to Samoa and we will do the same,” Tuilaepa told the Observer.

“They don’t want that. They want to fly to New Zealand then to Samoa, but see we don’t want that, we want them to fly directly from Australia to Samoa.

“We (Samoa Airways) will be serving the New Zealand route and they can focus on the Australia route to Samoa.”

Tuilaepa also indicated the joint venture had broken down over disagreements on fares and frequencies, and Virgin’s wish to operate services to Samoa with its subsidiary Tiger Airways.