ABUJA (AFP) - Virgin Atlantic said it would launch a new airline in Nigeria in which it will take a 49 percent stake.
The airline, to be called Virgin Nigeria, will be owned 51 percent by Nigerian institutional investors, Virgin Atlantic said in a statement.
The airline, which would come into commercial operation early next year, according to officials, is expected to recruit several thousand people in Nigeria within a few years.
It will be based in Lagos and aims to launch services in early 2005.
Planned destinations include domestic airports in Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt, as well as regional cities such as Abidjan, Accra and Dakar, and international destinations in the Middle East, United States and Europe.
Some of the routes are Dubai, Jeddah, Johannesburg, London and New York, according to Nigerian avitaion minister Isa Yuguda.
Total investment in the airline is expected to be around 50 million dollars (41 million euros), about half of which will be be provided by Virgin Atlantic, which is 49 percent owned by Singapore Airlines and the remainder by British tycoon Richard Branson's Virgin Group.
"Nigeria is taking yet another bold step forward, and all of us at Virgin are honoured and excited to be selected by the Nigerian government to play a role in creating a new, 21st century airline for Nigeria's 133 million people," Branson said in a statement.
"We aim to create the best airline, not just in Nigeria, but in the world, based in Africa," added the airline magnate, who met President Olusegun Obasanjo after signing the accord.
"I want to make Nigeria the hub of air transport in west Africa and Africa", an official statement quoted Obasanjo as telling Branson during the meeting.
At the start of this month Yuguda revealed that the Nigerian government had chosen British airline Virgin Atlantic as its partner in the creation of a new national carrier.
The new airline will replace the bankrupt Nigeria Airways, which was put into liquidation after decades of mismanagement and corruption.
Tuesday's deal in Abuja came a day after Branson announced a new venture, Virgin Galactic, which aims to send 3,000 new astronauts into space within the next five years.
Branson promised that Virgin Atlantic would bring its expertise to help the Nigerian partners to create not just the best airline in Africa, but also in the world.
In the new deal, he said that Virgin Atlantic would be delighted to give Nigerian private investors up to 10 percent equity of the company's shares whenever they go public.
Earlier this year Nigeria had appointed South African Airways as strategic investor in the project, but subsequent negotiations broke down.
The once mighty Nigeria Airways has been put into liquidation after decades of mismanagement, inefficiency, corruption and huge local and foreign debt, running into several hundreds of millions of dollars.
Nigeria has more than 60 Bilateral Air Services Agreements across the world, officials said.