| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 17/07/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 20 |
| Copyright: Other |
Flying high: Sir Richard receives a warm welcome in Delhi
Sir Richard accuses ‘certain forces’ of opposing new move
Virgin Atlantic claimed it experienced a string of bureaucratic challenges before the launch of its Delhi flights, alleging that “certain forces” were working against its entry into the Indian market.Despite being given the go-ahead to operate the flights a month ago, Virgin’s official air licence and stamp of approval was only granted by the Indian authorities 24hrs before last Wednesday night’s flight from London.
And minutes before Thursday’s return flight to London, Virgin alleged that vital credit documents including a licence to leave Delhi were stolen from the airline’s office at Indira Gandhi International Airport.
Virgin chairman Sir Richard Branson described the events of the past two months as a “painful process”.
“Some Indian MPs here tried to apply for a Parliamentary enquiry to say that the Air India/Virgin deal is corrupt,” he said.
“We want to expand the market and serve more routes in India. We are here in India at the invitation of the Indian government and have to respect their wishes and the way in which things are done here,” Sir Richard added.
Subhash Goyal, head of Delhi-based STIC Travel, which is Virgin’s agent in India, said he had never faced such resistance for an airline operating into India during his 30 years in the travel business.