Relief may have come the way of foreign airlines over the release of $265m by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to clear outstanding ticket sales, the problem is not yet over as just one-third of the money was said to have been released.
President, Association of Foreign Airlines and Representatives in Nigeria (AFARN), Kingsley Nwokoma in a chat with Daily Trust said with only a fraction of the trapped $600m released so far, the problem is not yet over.
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According to him, there was the need for stakeholders to sit together and devise a holistic measure to address the challenge.
He spoke just as findings by our correspondent indicated that Emirates Airlines which has announced it would suspend flights by Thursday September 1 is yet to rescind its decision.
The airline has blocked bookings from September 1 in line with its earlier announcement and there has been no further communication from the airline as of the time of filing this report.
It would be recalled that the airline had taken the decision over its inability to repatriate its $85m ticket sale funds even as other airlines have devised other measures to mitigate the effect of blocked funds.
Speaking with our correspondent, Nwokoma said the release of $265m by the CBN cannot address the pending issue.
Asked if the airlines had received the funds, he noted that the issue would be clearer this week, saying, “Getting the funds to the foreign airlines wouldn’t be an issue.”
“So we need to address how we got to where we are today and it is not that you release this and in another couple of weeks, we are still battling with funds not repatriated back.
“So meetings would be held on how we got to this situation to ensure that this does not continue because it is a BASA agreement. Regardless of what anybody is saying, you have signed an agreement with another country, not even with the airline, and that agreement has to be fulfilled.”
He stated that releasing one-third of the total money is not enough to get the airlines to rescind the decision to reduce flights to Nigeria.
“We shall see because the money is still a lot. Every minute, every second people are still buying tickets. So the money is still growing. It is over $600m. Paying like one third doesn’t mean it’s still perfectly okay.
“If the government had acted long before this time, apparently we wouldn’t be where we are this time. The world’s economies are bad, everybody is grappling with one issue or the other but the airline industry is the most affected after Covid and it is an industry that requires 100 percent safety, not 99 percent.
Meanwhile, a former Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr. Harold Demuren has proposed that the federal government should allow foreign carriers to allow passengers in First Class and Business Class cabins to pay for tickets in dollars while passengers in economy class can pay in Naira.
This he said would reduce the burden of funds repatriation on the airlines.
Daily Trust however reports that this would entail a review of the bilateral air service agreement (BASA) to give effect to the proposal if it would be adopted.
According to Demuren, most passengers in Business and First Class have the means to buy their tickets in dollars.
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Meanwhile, Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Aviation, Rep. Nnolim Nnaji has commended the Federal Government for responding to the appeal and concerns expressed by the House Leadership and the its Committee on Aviation by releasing more than half of the trapped foreign airlines’ funds.
Nnaji also frowned at the insistence of some airlines to sell tickets in dollars while asking them to rescind their decision.
He also appealed to the airlines to bring down their fares on Nigerian routes noting that investigations had shown that Nigerian travellers pay higher fares on international routes more than any country in Africa.
Nnaji also acknowledged the efforts of the Ministries of Aviation and Finance as well as the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) for their roles in making the release of the funds possible.
He equally urged the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the member airlines to show understanding by rescinding some of the actions they have taken against the country.
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