Recall the aviation industry some months ago, almost downed tools over the inability of the FG to release some of the ‘trapped funds’ owned by some foreign airline companies which amounted to about $464 million.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) then announced it had approved the payment of some of the trapped funds to the foreign airline operators.
After the announcement, more revelations have shown that some of the airlines are yet to receive these funds, a development which has further caused hardship on passengers as Nigerian travelers have continued to face the hardship of buying costlier plane tickets when compared to other countries.
According to Susan Akporiaye, the President of the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA), the FG was not being transparent with the remittance as some foreign carriers have received just a part of the stranded funds.
Akporiaye added “Information reaching us is that out of the 50 per cent of funds released, the airlines have just received only 25 per cent. Some have not even gotten at all. Even the ones that have the 25 per cent are even paid short of their expectations”
The implication of this is that Nigerians have been made to purchase an average six-hour Economy Class ticket for between N1.5 to N2.2 million. The Business Class variant sells at an average of N4 to N5 million – an amount which has spiked by over 200 percent of the rate sold in other parts of the world.
Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema also corroborated this ticket price disparity with Nigerian travellers recently during an interview with Channels TV.
Onyema accused the foreign airlines of not honoring the Bilateral trade agreement signed by participating countries by refusing to grant Nigerian airlines the same landing frequency Nigeria is granting the foreign airlines.
He also mentioned that a trip from Johannesburg, South Africa to London which is a nine-hour flight, cost less than a six-hour trip from Nigeria to London.
The operators went ahead to call on the FG to engage the foreign airlines, acknowledge the problems on ground and also have plans to resolve them.