Air Transport Union: Nigeria Leads in Blocking Airlines' Funds

The spokesman for the International Air Transport Association revealed today, Thursday, that Nigeria is withholding $743 million in revenues earned by international airlines operating in the country, the highest amount owed by any nation. Nigeria faces a severe foreign currency shortage, which leads to restrictions on imports and means that investors cannot convert local currency to repatriate their profits. IATA spokeswoman Catherine Kaczynska stated, "Governments around the world owe airlines approximately $2.2 billion. Nigeria has the largest amount of frozen funds, followed by Algeria owing about $165 million and Lebanon owing about $146 million." She added, "The ability to efficiently repatriate revenues is crucial for any economy to remain globally connected to markets and supply chains." Emirates Airline, based in Dubai, suspended its flights to Nigeria last year after failing to recover ticket sales. Last month, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the Central Bank to enhance the foreign currency allocated to Emirates after a discussion with the UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.