Leading international flight operator Emirates has drastically limited the number of flights coming to Nigeria.
In a letter to the Nigerian authorities dated July 22, 2022 and addressed to the Minister of Aviation, Emirates says the decision is strictly a cost saving measure that has become absolutely necessary. “We had no choice but to take this action, to mitigate the continued losses Emirates is experiencing as a result of funds being blocked in Nigeria”.
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The letter says it had taken steps through engagements with the Nigerian authorities to resolve the issue with no success.
Consequently, it has decided to reduce its flights coming to Nigeria from Dubai from 11 to 7 a week.
The decision is both financial and economic. The airline says it has been unable to repatriate $85m of its money from Nigeria. It added that the figure keeps rising each month by $10m dollars.
“These funds are urgently needed to meet our operational costs and maintain the commercial viability of our services to Nigeria” the letter said, adding that it’s been doing business with mounting losses.
Emirates and the Nigerian government have been at constant bickering since the restrictions that came with the COVID-19 pandemic. Flights were suspended twice for extended periods with officials of both countries adamant in their positions.
Several airlines are yet to recover from the effects of the pandemic, the big ones are taking the hit as much as the domestic carriers are struggling to stay afloat.
In Nigeria, Aero, one of the longest serving airlines stopped operations while Dana Airlines was recently grounded by the regulator due to safety issues.
The letter from Emirates also suggests that the Nigerian government wants to force airlines to pay in dollars to boost FOREX liquidity to meet other demands. “Emirates did try to stem the losses by proposing to pay for fuel in Nigerian Naira, which would have at least reduced one element of our ongoing costs, however this request was denied by the supplier.
It said it had met with the Central Bank of Nigeria among other efforts to find a solution to the issue. “Our senior Vice President met with the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank in May and followed up on the meeting by a letter to the Governor himself the following month, however no positive response was received”.
With no improvement in the situation, the airline says it needs to survive by taking drastic actions.
The Nigerian authorities are yet to respond to the development.
(Editor: Nkoli Omhoudu)
