- The Emirates has announced the suspension of all flights in and out of Nigeria in the face of mounting losses. The reason cited is the pending dues of $85million due to Nigeria’s foreign exchange shortage.
The Emirates has announced the suspension of all flights in and out of Nigeria in the face of mounting losses. The reason cited is the pending dues of $85million due to Nigeria’s foreign exchange shortage.
In a press statement, the airline said that all flights to and from Nigeria will be suspended from September 1, 2022, until the pending dues are repatriated from Nigeria. Earlier, Emirates Airlines had cut down its weekly number of flights into Lagos from 11 to seven over the same issue. The dues have been surging by more than $US10 million monthly as the result of operational costs of its 11 weekly flights to Lagos and five to Abuja. The airlines said that the outstanding dues are urgently needed to maintain the operations as well as the commercial viability of its services to Nigeria.
Emirates’ statement said that post-COVID, it cannot afford to lose any more revenue. It offered to offset the losses by proposing to pay for fuel in Nigeria in Naira, which was turned down. It added that despite its efforts to initiate dialogue with the relevant authorities for their urgent intervention to help find a viable solution it failed to make any headway. The airlines have offered to help impacted customers make alternative travel arrangements wherever possible.
Also read;
https://trendsnafrica.com/emirates-expands-its-connections-to-africa/
https://trendsnafrica.com/emirates-to-increase-flights-to-mauritius/
