Emirates slashes flights to Nigeria over withheld $85m

Emirates Airlines has said it will reduce its flights to Nigeria from August 15, due to its failure to repatriate the $85m it generated from the sale of ticket sales in the country.

The airline said it would be forced to reduce weekly flights from Dubai to Lagos from 11 to seven. It said it was constrained to take the action.

These were contained in its July 22 letter to the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, and signed by Sheik Majid Al Mualla, the DSVP International Affairs.

The letter explained that as of July 2022, Emirates had $85m of funds awaiting repatriation due to non-availability of dollars in Nigeria and that the figure had been rising by more than $10m every month, as the ongoing operational costs of the airline’s 11 weekly flights to Lagos and five to Abuja continue to accumulate.

“We simply cannot continue to operate at the current level in the face of mounting losses, especially in the challenging post COVID-19 climate. Emirates did try to stem the losses by proposing to pay for fuel in Nigeria in naira, which would have at least reduced one element of our on-going costs, however this request was denied by the supplier. This means that not only are Emirates’ revenues accumulating, we also have to send hard currency into Nigeria to sustain our own operations. Meanwhile, our revenues are out of reach and not even earning credit interest,” the letter added.

The mega carrier said the funds were urgently needed to meet its operational costs and maintain the commercial viability of its services to Nigeria.