Foreign airlines have revealed that almost 90 per cent of their $783 million trapped funds have not been paid.
The airlines disclosed this during a stakeholders’ forum convened in Lagos by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo.
As of August, the International Air Transport Association Nigeria stated that the airlines’ blocked funds were $783m and a significant portion of those funds remained inaccessible to them.
According to the Chairman of International Airline Operators, Mr Chima Kingsley, less than 10 per cent of the trapped funds have been received by international banks from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“The bulk of the blocked funds are with Nigerian commercial banks. The bulk of the money has not been paid,” he said.
Representing domestic carriers, the Chairman of United Nigeria Airlines, Obiora Okonkwo, stated their struggles with trapped funds and limited access to forex impacting their operations.
These challenges included aircraft maintenance fees accumulating due to the inability to source forex for payments.
In response, Keyamo assured stakeholders that efforts were underway to address the forex challenge.
Although the minister could not provide specific payout amounts, he emphasized the government’s commitment to addressing the situation in the coming weeks, providing a ray of hope for airlines facing financial difficulties.
Alleluia is the Assistant Editor and Content Writer at LagosPost.ng. She is a prolific writer and editor, she has written features and news stories on Lifestyle, Sports, Business, Politics and B2B marketing. She is also an event coordinator, host and social media content creator.
