Emirates ‘comeback’ to spur departed foreign carriers’ return
- Airlines’ applications flood Ministry
The return of Emirates Airlines to Abuja more than one year after some foreign carriers exited the country could trigger return of others who left.
This is as a result of huge market Nigeria offers coupled with the fact that those issues that left to their exit are gradually being addressed according to a top government official who spoke to Woleshadare.net on condition of anonymity.
The source stated that the key factors why the carriers stopped their operations then was the issue of Forex which kept total trapped funds of the foreign airlines at over $570 million which made their operations to Nigeria very difficult.
The source who works with the Ministry of Transportation said the crisis put the country on the edge because of the colossal foreign exchange the nation lost to the decision of the four big airlines to pull out of the country.
He further disclosed that the government had received so many applications by airlines who want to begin air services to the country, adding that government was still studying their application; an indication he said portends great omen for Nigeria.
The source also stated that some of the airlines are working to see how they could come back to the routes they left little over a year ago because of the little challenges the country faced then.
He said government had to work extra hard through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to quickly look at ways of releasing the trapped funds in peace meal and offered a window to Nigerian carriers on special forex availability which he noted cushioned the hardship faced by airlines at that period.
Although, he could not immediately disclose how much of the trapped funds are still uncleared, he said he was sure that over 80 per cent of the airlines’ funds had been repatriated by the carriers.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) Area Manager (South-West Africa), Dr. Samson Fatokun had in a press conference in August 2017 in Lagos when IATA’s Regional Vice President, Africa and Middle East, Mohammed Ali Albakri, visited Nigeriaadmitted that the Federal Government released $425 million of their funds while $175 million was still in the coffers of the CBN then.
According to Fatokun, “As at June 2017, $425 million had been cleared, but we still have $175 million. We had a lot of engagement with the CBN. We encouraged the CBN to maintain the tempo. It is not the profit of the airlines, but revenue from the service they did. The funds are for staff salaries, maintenance and other things the airlines need.”
Emirates had on December 14, 2017 returned to Abuja route with 95 passengers and 17 crew members on board its B777-300 from Dubai.
The carrier had on November 3, 2017 announced its decision to reinstate its second service to Lagos and resume operations to Abuja with four weekly flights from Dec.15, 2017.
In February 2016, four foreign carriers that operated for several years in the country have left. Iberia, the Spanish national carrier was the first that left in February that year, followed by United Airlines, Emirates and Kenya Airways which stopped their Abuja operations.
It has to be noted that Nigeria is a very lucrative market for international carriers. Most European carriers like British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France, KLM and others make the highest profit per flight from the Nigerian market.
They charge are accused of relatively very high fares on the Nigerian routes and always record high load factors above 70 per cent at all seasons.
That was why the Sales Manager, West and East Africa of Delta Air Lines, Bobby Bryan, said at different fora that the US carrier was not willing to leave Nigeria; that Nigeria remains a lucrative market at all seasons and this is because Nigerians have passion for travelling.
For over 170 million people of passionate travellers, many were concerned when international carriers that have operated many years in the country and are pampered by the Nigerian government that gives them multi-designations without stress decided to leave the juicy market.
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