Emirates to suspend flights to Nigeria due to frozen funds

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Emirates to suspend flights to Nigeria due to frozen funds

Emirates to suspend Nigeria flights from September over trapped funds from Oxford AstraZeneca vaccines against COVID 19 arrive in Abuja

LAGOS Reuters - Dubai will suspend flights to Nigeria next month because of an inability to repatriate funds from Africa's most populous nation, the airline said on Thursday.

The decision highlights the difficulties faced by international carriers that fly to Nigeria, one of the biggest markets in Africa for several of them.

The country has restricted access for foreign currency for imports and investors seeking to repatriate their profits due to a shortage of dollars. Nigeria receives 90% of its foreign exchange from oil, but is struggling to produce due to pipeline theft and years of under-investment.

The International Air Transport Association said in June Nigeria had withholding $450 million in revenue that international carriers operating in the country had earned.

Emirates had made no progress in its efforts to initiate dialogue with the relevant authorities for their urgent intervention.

According to the statement, Emirates has decided to suspend all flights to and from Nigeria on 1 September 2022 to limit further losses and impact on operational costs that continue to accumulate in the market.

A Federal Ministry of Aviation spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.

Emirates had earlier sent a letter to the government saying it could cut flights to Lagos this month because it couldn't get $85 million stuck in the country as of July, a figure that had been rising by $10 million per month.

Emirates will re-evaluate its decision if the situation changes in the coming days over the blocked funds.

It added that customers would be helped to make alternative travel arrangements where possible.