PV Staff
Sierra Leone’s Transport and Aviation Minister Leonard Logus Koroma (pictured) has been explaining why a newly established Sierra Leonean airline suddenly stopped flying.
In an interview with the Freetown-based Platinum Media, Logus said contrary to some rumours circulating in and out of the country, Fly Salone was a 100 percent private investment which had nothing to do with the government of Sierra Leone and that the airline was given clearance to fly by the British Civil Aviation Authority after due diligence, and then by the Sierra Leone Civil Aviation after Sierra Leoneans called for a direct flight to London from Freetown.
He said just like the private sector Virgin Airlines is flying the British flag, Fly Salone, as private investors, were flying the Sierra Leone flag .
"They simply went bust in a highly competitive and professional industry like a lot of other start up airlines have gone in the UK , the rest of Europe and the USA losing billions of their own money, not government money," the Minister explained.
"It appears that some Sierra Leoneans are hostile to private investments like this; from the beginning a cross section of Sierra Leoneans in the UK gave bad publicity to the venture and said they would not use it and that they preferred Air France, Brussels Airlines and Royal Air Maroc. At least FlySalone tried and has now failed due to lack of patronage by Sierra Leoneans," the clearly disappointed Transport Minister observed.
Minister Logus Koroma says there are no immediate plans to salvage Fly Salone and that the government "will not be interested in this kind of specialised business."
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