Spat between Virgin and Samoa over New Zealand flights gets ugly

A row between Virgin Australia and Samoa over flights from New Zealand has deepened with the island nation's govt saying its economy could have been damaged by a "multinational airline". At the weekend Virgin was told its application to fly 5 times a week between Apia and Auckland from the middle of next month had been declined. The airline has said the knock-back came out of the blue but the Samoan govt said the decision should have come as no surprise as a 12-year joint venture deal between them had ended earlier in the year. Samoa is setting up its own airline to fly to New Zealand with support from Fiji Airways. The 6-times a week service is due to start at the time Virgin Australia hoped to start its service. Thousands of passengers have been caught up in the dispute. <br/>