The United Arabs Emirates Airlines has disclosed all air flights to Nigeria will be put on hold following challenges in repatriating funds from the country.
Newsonline reports that the UAE-owned company said it has made considerable efforts to initiate dialogue with relevant Nigerian authorities for the urgent intervention to help find a solution to the issue of repatriation of funds but to no avail.
At least, $600 million from over 20 foreign airlines has been blocked in Nigeria since the beginning of the year.
Emirates had about two weeks ago said that out of these funds, it had about $85 million in Nigeria.
The airline had on Monday cut its 11 weekly frequencies into Lagos Airport to just seven.
In a statement released early Thursday, Emirates Airlines said it has taken the difficult decision to suspend all flights to and from Nigeria, effective September 1, 2022.
The airline’s statement on Thursday said: ”Emirates has tried every avenue to address our ongoing challenges in repatriating funds from Nigeria, and we have made considerable efforts to initiate dialogue with the relevant authorities for their urgent intervention to help find a viable solution.
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”Regrettably, there has been no progress. Therefore, Emirates has taken the difficult decision to suspend all flights to and from Nigeria, effective September 1 2022, to limit further losses and impact on our operational costs that continue to accumulate in the market.
”We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to our customers, however, the circumstances are beyond our control at this stage. We will be working to help impacted customers make alternative travel arrangements wherever possible.
”Should there be any positive developments in the coming days regarding Emirates’ blocked funds in Nigeria, we will of course re-evaluate our decision. We remain keen to serve Nigeria, and our operations provide much-needed connectivity for Nigerian travelers, providing access to trade and tourism opportunities to Dubai and to our broader network of over 130 destinations.”
