IATA disclosed this in a letter addressed to the Minister of
Aviation, Hadi Sirika, signed by the Area Manager West and Central Africa, Dr
Samson Fatokun, obtained by our correspondent in Abuja.
IATA urged the minister to intervene and ensure the resolution
of the issue of airlines’ blocked funds in Nigeria.
“For over a year, Nigeria has been the country with the
highest amount of airline-blocked funds in the world. Please find attached the
comparative table of airlines’ blocked funds by country.
“Moreover, as of January 2023, airlines’ blocked funds in
Nigeria have increased to $743.721.092 from $662m in January 2022 and $549m in
December 2022.
While highlighting the social-economic impact of the
airline-blocked funds in Nigeria, Fatokun said the increasing backlog of
blocked funds of international airlines will impact negatively the foreign
direct investment in the country, at a moment the country was expecting
investment in the concession of some of its major airports.
He also mentioned that the continue trapped funds violate
the Bilateral Air Service Agreement, saying that the country was flaunting its
contractual obligations by not facilitating the repatriation of the airlines’
funds.
Fatokun stated that to mitigate the current crisis airlines
were taking drastic steps like reducing the number of frequencies or the number
of seats made available for sale in the Nigerian market.
According to him, these mitigation measures will reduce
passenger and cargo access to the country.
He said, “Going by the law of demand and supply, the
reduction of airline inventories in the Nigerian market will lead to the ticket
fare increase, which will further burden average Nigerians.”
He further warned that the downstream sector of the aviation
industry such as the travel agencies, freight forwarders and ground handling
companies will be negatively impacted if airlines were compelled to reduce
their capacities, thereby, leading to job losses.
In his response, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, on
Tuesday in a meeting with the IATA team, foreign airlines and travel agents
assured the foreign airlines that he would take the issue up with the
Presidency and the Central Bank of Nigeria.
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