The National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA) on Wednesday said that the Federal Government has started the payment of the trapped funds of foreign airlines to the carriers as part of its efforts to resolve the lingering crisis associated with the trapped funds in the country.
The President of the association, Mrs. Susan Akporiaye, who disclosed this during a chat with journalists, said that following the government’s latest action on the trapped funds some airlines that had formerly blocked their lower inventories against travel agencies, had opened the inventories to travel agencies.
Akporiaye, who did not mention the beneficiary airlines so far, noted that at least 25 foreign airlines had their funds trapped in the country.
Apparently concerned about the negative impacts of the trapped funds face-off between the government and the foreign airlines on the economy, she stressed the need for the Nigerian government and the foreign carriers to resolve the trapped funds crisis in the interest of all stakeholders, adding that travel agencies are among the worst hit by the trapped funds crisis over the past months.
The NANTA President said: “There is no 100 percent halt, for instance, somebody is expecting $100,000 and he is getting $10,000. The payment is going on in tiny trickles. When we had a meeting with the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, he never actually told us some people were given preferential treatment.
“All of them are in the same situation in which it is just in bits and pieces. The window is still open for them to do their normal two weeks bidding but whatever comes in very significant”, Akporiaye added.
She further disclosed that steps were being taken by the association to address the trapped funds challenge, monopoly, border and visa issues as well as unfair practices currently undermining the aviation industry’s operations and sustainable growth.
It would be recalled that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) had last February put the foreign carriers’ trapped fund at about $743.721 million and urged the Federal Government to amicably resolve the lingering crisis over the trapped funds with the carriers with a view to ensuring payments to them on mutually agreed terms.
