Emirates Airlines has announced the suspension of its flight operations to Nigeria, starting September 1, 2022, over its $85 million revenue awaiting repatriation from Nigeria.
This was announced in a statement by the airline on Thursday, the airline stated that the suspension is due to its inability to repatriate its earnings in foreign exchange from Nigeria. The $85m is the airline’s revenue awaiting repatriation from Nigeria as of July 2022.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s flag carrier noted that the suspension will help in curtailing further losses and reduce the impact on its operational costs that continue to accumulate in the Nigerian market.
The statement reads “Emirates has taken the difficult decision to suspend all flights to and from Nigeria, effective 1 September 2022, to limit further losses and impact on our operational costs that continue to accumulate in the market.
“We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to our customers, however, the circumstances are beyond our control at this stage. We will be working to help impacted customers make alternative travel arrangements wherever possible.
“Should there be any positive developments in the coming days regarding Emirates’ blocked funds in Nigeria, we remain keen to serve Nigeria, and our operations provide much-needed connectivity for Nigerian travellers, providing access to trade and tourism opportunities to Dubai, and to our broader network of over 130 destinations”.
Recall that in March that Nigeria is currently holding $283 million worth of foreign airlines’ funds in the country, as of March 22, 2022. The funds are proceeds from sales of foreign airlines’ tickets among others that are trapped in Nigeria.
