The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Friday announced the release of the sum of $265 million to airlines operating in the country to support their operations and partly offset the carriers’ outstanding ticket sales funds trapped in the country.
The bank’s Director, Corporate Communications Department Mr. Osita Nwasinobi, in a statement quoted the CBN Governor and the management as saying that the intervention was necessitated by the lingering crisis in the sector and the implications for air travels, the economy and the nation’s image in the comity of nations
The statement indicated that the sum of $230 million is released as special FX intervention while another sum of $35 million is provided through Retail SMIS auction.
The Director further clarified that the bank was not against any company repatriating its funds from the country, adding that the position of the bank is to ensure orderly exit for those that might be interested in doing so.
Industry experts believe that the intervention by the CBN will bring some operational relief to the airlines following recent notice given to the government about their intention to withdraw their services in the face of unremitted funds for outstanding sale of tickets.
For instance, due to their inability to repatriate their ticket sales, Emirates had last week threatened to suspend all flights from Nigeria, effective from 1st September, 2022.
This is even as some news sources said that British Airways was also considering suspending its operations in Nigeria from December 2022 if payment of its trapped funds in the country is not effected before then.
