Emirates at Odds With Nigerian Govt, Flights Suspension Looms

Emirates Airline has said that it will suspend all flights to Nigeria from September 1, 2022 following difficulties in repatriating funds amounting to U.S.$85 million from its ticket revenues.

The airline said in a statement, "Emirates has tried every avenue to address our ongoing challenges in repatriating funds from Nigeria and have made considerable efforts to initiate dialogue with the relevant authorities for their urgent intervention to help find a viable solution. Regrettably there has been no progress."

Nigeria is Africa's biggest markets for international carriers.

In June 2022, the International Air Transport Association said Nigeria was holding onto U.S.$450 million in revenue belonging to other foreign carriers operating in the country. 

Meanwhile, domestic airline operators in the country are still battling with the rising price of aviation fuel, which has pushed all the airlines to increase their base fares by over 100 percent within the last six months. Last month, during an emergency meeting with airline operators, Sirika said, "there are no immediate solutions" to the lingering crisis in the sector because what ails the industry is a global problem.

Nigeria's Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika says the government is "working hard" to release trapped funds to the Emirates airline.