Janet Silvera, Senior Tourism Writer

Mike Henry, Minister of Transport and Works, says Jamaica got a raw deal on the sale of the London route to Virgin Atlantic. - File

Minister of Transport and Works, Mike Henry, has vowed to press ahead with the review of the Virgin Atlantic contract, saying Air Jamaica and the country were given a raw deal with "junk" slots at Gatwick Airport, London.

He is now demanding three of the seven positions that Virgin now holds at the Heathrow International.

"We are not a Fifth-World country, we are developed," said Henry, following a meeting between Virgin chairman Sir Richard Branson and Prime Minister Bruce Golding.

Standing firm

Henry was not swayed even after attempts by Branson to charm him at a social event in St. Mary Wednesday.

The Transport Minister said he was looking to get out of the deal but would be doing an updated valuation of the slots.

Virgin paid Air Jamaica £5.1 million for its rights to the Kingston-London route.

"In the first place the Air Jamaica position should have been leased and not sold," he said.

Aspects of the contract are still to be signed off on to fully implement the code-share deal between Virgin and Air Jamaica, but the airline's director of corporate communications, Paul Charles, says Virgin is still not about to back down.

Branson said Tuesday that Virgin had invested US$200 million in the route, on which flights were inaugurated this week.

Charles said it was important that foreign businesses in Jamaica are given the confidence to trust the Government and Air Jamaica.

"Otherwise there will be question marks relating to the level of risk when a company invests in this country."

The Virgin Atlantic executive says it is unusual for Governments to undo agreements signed by their predecessors.

In response Henry's charge tagging the Gatwick slots as junk, Charles said that airport was a better connection to London than Heathrow for Jamaican.

The airline plans to increase its load factor with an additional five flights into Montego Bay from London, Gatwick bringing in 15,000 more passengers this holiday season, starting December 22.

"Jamaica has been a huge success since we launched the Montego Bay service last year," he said. An average 30,000 passengers flew into the island via Virgin within the period.

"As the economy improves and more hotels are developed, we hope to add extra permanent flights to the route," the senior vice president stated cautiously, adding that decisions regarding the Jamaican market were constantly under review."

He said that currently there was not enough demand to have a daily London flight.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com