Foreign airlines in the coiuntry have threatened to withdraw their services over $545 million (N109 billion) debt owed to them by the Federal Government.
According to Bloomberg:
Some $575 million was due to carriers as of March 31, according to the International Air Transport Association, even after the Central Bank of Nigeria released funds to pay off part of the backlog.
Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo told IATA Chief Executive Officer Tony Tyler this week that airlines must agree “a realistic and achievable payment schedule,” the trade body said. Carriers could begin severing links if the issue isn’t resolved, damaging Lagos’s standing as an aviation hub, IATA said.
Carriers including United Airlines, Delta Air Lines Inc. and American Airlines Group Inc. pulled capacity from Venezuela during a similar dispute in 2014 as a 61 percent inflation rate limited the state’s access to dollars. Airlines had the equivalent of $3.9 billion trapped in Venezuelan bolivars, IATA estimated.
IATA said Wednesday it’s still “optimistic that a solution will be found.”