Nigeria has withheld about $450 million in revenue earned by foreign airlines operating in the country, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) claims. <\/p>\n
The amount is the most withheld by countries among which foreign airlines revenues are stuck. <\/p>\n
Kamil Al Awadhi, vice-president for Africa and the Middle East, IATA, made this known on Sunday, at the opening of its 78th annual general meeting and world air transport summit in Doha, Qatar.<\/p>\n
Al Awadhi said as of April, a total of $1.6 billion in funds are blocked by 20 countries worldwide.<\/p>\n
He said $1 billion is tied up in 12 African countries, accounting for 67 percent of the total funds.<\/p>\n
\u201cZooming in a little more, Nigeria alone is holding back $450 million. It is the most amount blocked by any single African country, and the amount is rising every week,\u201d Al Awadhi said.<\/p>\n
\u201cCash flow is key for airlines\u2019 business sustainability \u2014 when airlines are unable to repatriate their funds, it severely impedes their operations and limits the number of markets they can serve.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe consequences of reduced air connectivity include the erosion of that country\u2019s competitiveness, diminished investor confidence, and reputational harm caused by a perception that it is a high-risk place to do business.<\/p>\n
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\n\u201cStrong connectivity is an economic enabler and generates considerable economic and social benefits.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe call on governments to prioritise aviation in the access to foreign exchange on the basis that air connectivity is a vital key economic catalyst for the country.<\/p>\n
Al Awadhi, a former chief executive of Kuwait Airways, said Nigerian officials had blamed foreign currency shortage for not repatriating the airline revenue.<\/p>\n
Al Awadhi said talks with Nigerian officials to release the funds have been a \u201chectic ride\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe keep chipping away and hoping that it clicks that this is going to damage the country down the road,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nigeria has withheld about $450 million in revenue earned by foreign airlines operating in the country, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) claims. The amount is the most withheld by countries among which foreign airlines revenues are stuck. Kamil Al Awadhi, vice-president for Africa and the Middle East, IATA, made this known on Sunday, at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":49237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_bookmark_settings":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[23901,34785,303,5371],"class_list":["post-197613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","tag-foreign-airlines","tag-iata","tag-nigeria","tag-revenue"],"yoast_head":"\n