Hadi Sirika, the Minister of Aviation has said that the Federal Government will sanction foreign airlines that refuse to sell air tickets in Naira, Nigeria’s local currency.
He said this today in Abuja shortly after the Federal Executive Council meeting, according to ChannelsTV.
He revealed that intelligence reports have shown that some airlines now charge for tickets in dollars, an act that violates Nigeria’s laws.
What the minister is saying
The minister noted that violators will be sanctioned as the government will not allow the sales of tickets in foreign currency.
He noted that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has been directed to sanction airlines that flout Nigerian laws.
“Refusing to sell tickets in Naira, and blocking access to cheaper seats, are violations of our local laws,” “We will not allow it, all violators will be sanctioned,” the minister said.
Speaking on foreign airlines’ trapped funds, he said the CBN is working to ensure that airline funds are not trapped.
“We are doing everything to make these airlines happy in Nigeria. We need their services; they need our market,” he added.
In case you missed it
- Some airline operators had announced in August that they were suspending flight operations to Nigeria as a result of the difficulty to repatriate their funds.
- The federal government has said its inability to release the funds was as a result of the foreign exchange crisis. But for the foreign airlines, it became more difficult to operate and invest in Nigeria as they are unable to harness revenue from their services.
- Emirates Airlines announced the suspension of its flight operations to Nigeria, starting September 1, 2022, over its $85 million revenue awaiting repatriation from Nigeria.
- The Central Bank of Nigeria released the sum of $265 million in order to settle trapped funds belonging to foreign airlines.
- Nairametrics also reported that The International Air Transportation Association (IATA) revealed that the revenue belonging to foreign airlines in Nigeria that is being withheld from repatriation as of July 2022 is the sum of $464 million
