International airlines could stop flying to Nigeria over inability to repatriate profits - IATA

Kamil Alawadhi – Regional Vice-President, Africa and Middle East of the International Air Transport Association, says Nigeria risks losing major international airlines servicing its two major airports in Lagos and Abuja, if concerns over airlines’ inability to repatriate profits are not addressed with urgency.

"We are getting to a breaking point for Nigeria where airlines will drop off and not operate to Nigeria,” Kamil Alawadhi told AviationGhana and selected African journalists during a press briefing at the IATA office in Geneva, Switzerland.

Nigeria has yet to present a concrete plan to settle the estimated $792m of airlines’ blocked funds in the populous West African country. Despite initial attempts to engage IATA over the issue, the Nigerian government has gone quiet for months.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) data shows that US$1.9billion of airlines’ funds are blocked in Africa with Nigeria leading the pack.

Egypt – $348m, Algeria – $199m, XAF Zone – $183m, and Ethiopia – $128m complete the list of top five countries where airlines are struggling to repatriate their funds.