This data was disclosed by the Chairman of the Airlines and Passengers Joint Committee of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Bankole Bernard, who spoke with the Punch.
According to Bernard, the aviation industry will continue to thrive and the profit margin will grow in the near future due to the high demand for travelling within the country which has led to the increased income raked in by foreign airlines.
This comes amid the crisis currently playing out in the industry as it concerns the blocked funds belonging to the foreign airlines operating in the country.
As of March 2023, the IATA revealed that the Nigerian government owed foreign airlines around $743 million. This amount stood at $549 million in December 2022, and $662 million in January 2023.
In other to circumvent the crisis, foreign airlines now developed a process which compelled Nigerians to purchase tickets directly in dollars with the exchange rate increasing significantly too.
“They have started selling in dollars. Not only are they selling in dollars, the exchange rate for the conversion has gone really high. It is 640/$, which is closer to the black market rate,” Bernard added.
The IATA, through a series of letters signed by the association’s area manager West and Central Africa, Samson Fatokun had sought the FG s intervention to enable the airlines to gain access to their finds.
The IATA had warned that the blockage of the funds belonging to foreign airlines would negatively affect air connectivity between the country and other countries, a move which would also stunt the nation’s economic growth and overall development.
Nigeria has maintained its position as the country with the highest amount of airline-blocked funds in the world, a development which has caused some major challenges in the aviation sector.