Trapped Forex: More Airlines To Follow Emirates
There are indications that more international carriers are gearing to join Emirates Airlines which announced, on Thursday, the suspension of its flight operations in Nigeria from September 1, 2022, our correspondents gathered.
British Airways has already reduced its flight frequencies to Nigeria, as the airline informed its passengers on Thursday of an imminent hike in the cost of its flight tickets.
The international airlines are halting operations in Nigeria and raising airfares because of their inability to repatriate funds to their home countries.
In June this year, the International Air Transport Association expressed concerns over the decision by the Federal Government of Nigeria to block foreign airlines from repatriating ticket sales revenue running into $450m (N188.6bn) into their respective countries.
Nigeria gets about 90 per cent of its United States dollar from the sale of crude oil. However, the country has consistently not been able to meet its approved crude production quota on a monthly basis due to massive oil theft.
This has severely impacted on the country’s foreign exchange earnings, making it tough for the Central Bank of Nigeria to make dollar accessible for repatriation by foreign airlines with operations in Nigeria.