Delta Airline will discontinue its services between New York JFK airport in the United States and Lagos State in Nigeria on October 4, 2022.
The airline announced the route suspension in a statement,
noting that it was necessary due to “the current demand environment.”
The statement read, “Delta is suspending its nonstop service
between New York-JFK and Lagos to fit the current demand environment.
“The airline continues to operate service between Lagos and
Atlanta and offers onward connections to New York and other cities across the
United States.
“Customers impacted by our suspended New York-JFK to Lagos
service will be re-accommodated on Delta operated flights or services operated
by our joint venture partners. Delta remains committed to the Nigerian market.”
Despite the attempt by the Central Bank of Nigeria to wade
into the issue of trapped $464million of foreign airlines’ funds, British
Airways may also stop flying to Nigeria as of December 1, 2022.
The United Kingdom airline on Friday morning closed its
inventory which means travel agents would not be able to issue fresh tickets
for their clients, but individuals can buy tickets only online, only in
dollars.
The decision, according to BA, was to mitigate the effect of
blocked funds as foreign airlines plan to take drastic action including
suspension of flights to pressure the Federal Government to release their
funds.
Already, Emirates Airlines has announced the suspension of
its flight by September 1 over the same issue as the UAE carrier has over
$85million trapped in Nigeria.