Emirates Airlines has said it has a “substantial” amount of ticket sale revenue trapped in Nigeria and has made only slow progress in repatriating blocked funds out of Africa’s largest economy.
This was made known by the airline while reviewing its financial situation on Friday.
The Middle-East carrier and one of the major foreign airlines operating to Nigeria had in November last year suspended flights to Nigeria indefinitely, citing the inability to repatriate its trapped funds amounting to $85m at the time.
The airline earlier claimed that its share of the $260m approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is yet to be released.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) had said Nigeria has been the country with the highest amount of airline-blocked funds in the world, for over a year.
IATA asserted that the trapped funds belonging to foreign airlines operating in Nigeria have reached $743,721,097 from $662million in January 2023.
This was contained in a letter addressed to the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, and signed by the Area Manager West and Central Africa, Dr Samson Fatokun.
The letter sought intervention from the minister for the resolution of airlines blocked funds issues in Nigeria.