November 03, (THEWILL) – Emirates Airlines has suspended flight operations to Nigeria over its inability to repatriate blocked funds
In a statement by Emirates on Thursday, the airline said it has no option, but to suspend flights to/from Nigeria from 29 October, 2022, to mitigate against further losses.
According to the airline, “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.”
The airline explained that it has officially communicated its position and attended multiple hearings with the Nigerian government, and has made its 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 its remaining blocked funds by the end of October 2022, in addition to providing a guaranteed mechanism to avoid future repatriation accumulation challenges and delays, the airline stated.
The airline noted that under these extraordinary circumstances, it 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”, the statement added.
