Emirates Airlines stops Nigerian flights over $85m trapped funds

Emirates Airlines says it has suspended all flights to and from Nigeria from October 29, 2022, as part of moves to repatriate its over $85 million trapped in the country.

Emirates Airlines made this known via a statement issued on Thursday.

The airline, on August 18, said it would suspend all flights to and from Nigeria from September 1, 2022, over its trapped funds in the country.

The Federal Government later announced the release of the sum of $265 million to foreign airlines in the country to settle outstanding ticket sales.

However, the airline, on Thursday, said it has suspended both inbound and outbound Nigerian flight operations from October 29, noting that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) failed to fulfill its promise to offset part of the trapped funds by the end of October.

Emirates Airlines stated: “Emirates has continued to actively seek a solution for the repatriation of the remainder of its blocked funds in Nigeria. We were encouraged by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s efforts of reviewing our request, and considered that this critical issue would be swiftly resolved with the subsequent clearance of our remaining funds.

“However, Emirates has yet to receive an allocation of our blocked funds to be repatriated. Without the timely repatriation of the funds and a mechanism in place to ensure that future repatriation of Emirates’ funds do not accumulate in any way, the backlog will continue to grow, and we simply cannot meet our operational costs nor maintain the commercial viability of our operations in Nigeria.

“We have officially communicated our position and attended multiple hearings with the Nigerian government, and we have made our proposed approach clear to alleviate this untenable situation, including a plan for the progressive release of our funds.

“This included the repatriation and receipt of at least 80 percent of our remaining blocked funds by the end of October 2022, in addition to providing a guaranteed mechanism to avoid future repatriation accumulation challenges and delays.

“Under these extraordinary circumstances Emirates had no option but to suspend flights to/from Nigeria from 29 October, 2022, to mitigate against further losses moving forward.

“We hope to reach a mutual resolution with the Nigerian government around the repatriation of blocked funds to enable the resumption of operations and connectivity for travellers and businesses,” it said.

The Star