Uh oh. It looks like Richard Branson’s foray into the African airline market is coming to an end. Virgin Nigeria will no longer be using the Virgin name, and Branson’s affiliation with the airline will be ending. Now, other than chaste Nigerians, the only virgins in the country will be a daily Virgin Atlantic Airbus from London.

The end of this relationship just shows how hard it can be to do business in Africa. Virgin Group’s relationship with Nigeria swayed with the changing winds of power. Under one regime, all was good yet under the next it became a nightmare. And the airline itself has been far from a beacon of stability.

In its short life, Virgin Nigeria has flown only 18 airplanes. So you might be surprised to know that those 18 airplanes have been split between A320s, A330s, A340s, ATR 42s, 737s, 767s, Embraer 190s, and Fokker 50s. Originally, they planned on serving domestic, regional, and long haul routes. But now, they’ve given up on long haul entirely and they’ve decided to center their fleet around the Embraers for regional routes. We’ll see if they even stick to this fleet long enough to take delivery of all of them.

It’s not really a surprise that Branson would be frustrated. What was once a promising partnership will now be dissolved, as soon as Virgin can sell its stake. Meanwhile, the airline will continue to operate but under a new Virgin-free name.

For those of you who think that all Sir Richard Branson touches turns to gold, all you need to do is take a look at Virgin Nigeria to see a very different story. (Or study up on Virgin Express, but that’s for another time.)

The airline was started at a time when the Nigerian airline industry was in shambles, and there was plenty of oil money floating around. So, Sir Richard packed his bags and went down south to put together a new airline in his empire. Unfortunately for him, it has been far from easy sailing for the airline.

It seems that routes and aircraft types have floated in and out of the airline on a regular basis. It looked like their short haul strategy was finally settling down with the introduction of the Embraer jets, but their long haul flying was still a mess.

As of today, Virgin Nigeria has suspended all long haul flying, uh, temporarily, they say. That includes the routes to London and Johannesburg. Why did this happen? Well according to the airline, there’s too much new capacity and their tired product couldn’t compete. Why not just fix their product? Well, I’m guessing they don’t have the cash for it.

This means that the airline will return its two 767s to the lessor, but Virgin Nigeria apparently plans to be back in the market eventually, when they can get their act together.

How is it that Branson is willing to put up with this? Well, it appears that he has had less and less involvement in the airline. He has tried to sell his stake already, but nothing has come of it. The politics down in Nigeria must be frustrating him to no end.

For long haul passengers from Lagos, you can still fly Virgin Atlantic to London if you like the Virgin brand, or you can fly British Airways, Bellview, or Arik Air as well. South African appears to be the only airline that will fly you nonstop to Johannesburg.