Starting September 1, 2022, Emirates Airlines announced that they are going to suspend all flights to Nigeria.
A leading airline company, Emirates has operations in over 130 destinations. Explaining why they took such a decision, the airline said they are limiting further losses and impact on operational costs that continue to accumulate in the Nigerian 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” it said in a statement
Some $85 million belonging to Emirates Airline has been stuck in Nigeria and attempts to repatriate the funds have been unsuccessful. The situation is not peculiar to only Emirates, as the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in June accused Nigeria of blocking $450 million belonging to foreign airlines. With the Naira’s struggle against foreign currencies, it has been difficult for the government to access these foreign currencies due to their shortages.
Bainamultimedia/ Ibrahim Jabir
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