An aviation expert, Mr Bankole Bernard, seeks the FederalGovernment’s urgent assistance on provision of foreign exchange to allowforeign airlines repatriate their unremitted ticket revenue to their respectivecountries.
Bernard, the Chairman of Finchglow Holdings, made this known tothe News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the 26th Annual Conference of League ofAirports and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) in Lagos on Sunday.The theme of the seminar was “Sunset Airports: The Safety andEconomic Implications”.NAN reports that the International Air TransportationAssociation (IATA) Regional Vice President, Africa & Middle East, Mr KamilAl-Alawadhi, had said the number of foreign airlines’ blocked funds in Nigeriaestimated at $208 million in the third quarter in 2021 had risen to $283million in the first quarter of 2022.Bernard noted that the effect of unremitted funds would not onlyaffect the cost of airfares but the number of air travellers, cost of goods andrate of inflation in the country.He, therefore, urged the government through the Central Bank ofNigeria (CBN) to address the issue of the funds as it affects aviation andother industries.“On the issue of non-repatriation of funds by the foreignairlines, I think it is an issue that is over flogged. I don’t think at thisparticular point in time we should still be talking about things like this.“We need to go back to the drawing board and address this thingthe way we had addressed it in the past.“Remember two years ago, we had this kind of issue that even thefunds got to an amount far higher than what it is now about $750 million.“And here we are we are talking about $450 million that has beenstocked as a result of CBN not providing funds.“I think we need to give priority and I think with the sort ofservice that these foreign airlines have brought to us, I think CBN should havegiven them priority to enable them repatriate their money.“I honestly don’t understand what is happening at CBN but itreally requires a lot of intervention, the government needs to address theissue,” he told NAN.On the effect of the high cost of aviation fuel, Bernard said itwould have multiplier effect on the air fare, the number of passengers thatwould travel by air and the cost of goods in the market.The expert further lamented that the rate of inflation would goup because in Nigeria today, majority of the goods in the market were importedproducts.He, however, said it was unfortunate that two airlines had beentemporarily suspended but said that safety was important in the air transportbusiness.“It is quite unfortunate but you know in our industry it issafety first, I want to believe that the regulator had to place safety overconvenience which I absolutely agree with them.“If the airlines need to undergo audits to ensure that the livesof citizens are protected, I think it is worth it.Yes, it is going to create a sort of impact on either the numberof inventory of tickets in the market place, aircraft to be used,” the expertsaid.