Emirates Tired Of Nigeria; Suspends Operations From September

By Akinwale Kasali

Following the inability of United Arab Emirates, UAE, owned Emirates Airline to repatriate its funds from Nigeria, it has announced the suspension of its flight operations from September 1st, 2022.

The Airline made this disclosure Thursday August 18, 2022. It stressed that as an International carrier operating in Nigeria, it has repeatedly complained about its inability to repatriate funds to their home country.

This issue, the Airline noted, has been raised on many occasions with officials of the Federal Ministry of Aviation, as well as those at the Finance Ministry.

Emirates, in a statement said that the blocked funds belonging to its airlines have risen to about $600m, due to the inability of the Central Bank of Nigeria to make the United States Dollar available for the carriers to repatriate.

In its statement on Thursday, Emirates Airlines stated that it “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.”

It added, “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.”

It, however, noted that should there be any positive developments in the coming days regarding Emirates’ blocked funds in Nigeria, the airline would, of course, re-evaluate its decision.

“We remain keen to serve Nigeria, and our operations provide much-needed connectivity for Nigerian travellers, providing access to trade and tourism opportunities to Dubai, and to our broader network of over 130 destinations,” the global carrier stated.

The airline had, earlier scaled down the number of its flights to Nigeria as a warning.