Perhaps due his tenure and years of involvement as the representative of Virgin Atlantic would ring a bell in the travel and hospitality industry, the appointment of Chief John Adebanjo brings him to the forefront of travel and hospitality in Nigeria again.
American Express has just appointed him as the chairman of its Nigerian unit, a position he attained by purchasing major stakes in the US based company. His new position makes him oversee the Nigerian branch of the company.
American Express is mainly for its financial services and it’s travel and hospitality arm.
Chief John Adebanjo is an astute businessman who has been involved in travel and logistics business since the 90s in Nigeria.
He has headed several companies which include Aviation Logistics and Management Limited (ALML) in Ghana for over 20 years alongside with the Nigerian arm, Sharaf Group Nigeria and Virgin Group in West Africa.
ALML provides security services in support of routes to London Heathrow, Gatwick, Johannesburg, New York and Jeddah as well as regional West African & domestic Nigerian routes as a wholly owned Nigerian company.
However, Chief Adebanjo is not a stranger to controversies as he has witnessed a few under his leadership of Virgin Atlantic in Nigeria.
Some of them include the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority indicting Virgin Atlantic for price-fixing and exorbitant passenger fuel surcharges and allegations of racism by the Nigerian staff of the company not also forgetting the altercation with domestic airline operators on Virgin’s adoption of flying domestic routes. The last will be the eventual pulling out of Virgin Atlantic from Nigeria.
Chief John Adebanjo who boasts of being a personal friend of Richard Branson is married with children.