Some foreign airlines operating in Nigeria say they will
begin the sale of tickets in US dollars with effect from April 19, 2022.
The development was announced by APG in an advisory to its
travel partners, titled: “APG IET: Restrictions of Sales in US dollars”.
APG said the difficulty in repatriating airlines’ funds
stuck in Nigeria and other countries, coupled with foreign exchange
fluctuation, is responsible for the new policy.
APG is the world’s largest passenger and cargo general
sales agent (GSA) and airline representation company with offices around the
world, including Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
The airlines to effect the new policy are those on APG
Interline Electronic Ticketing (IET) GP code 275.
“Dear travel partners, warm greetings from APG. This is to
bring to your notice that with effect from April 19, 2022, GP would only accept
issuing of tickets in US dollars and not naira,” the advisory reads.
“This is mainly due to repatriation issues and the forex
situation in the country. This would most likely be a temporary measure till
the forex situation improves.
“Our sincere apologies for any inconveniences this may cause
to you and your business. Thank you for understanding.”
Airlines on the APG IET platform include South African
Airways, Fly Dubai, Kenya Airways, Middle East Airlines, Royal Air Maroc,
Rwandair, Thai Airways, Turkish Airlines, FrenchBee, EgyptAir, ASKY, Air
Seychelles, Air Algerie and Air Namibia.
Air Panama, Air Burkina, Avianca, Bangkok Airways, Cabo
Verde Airlines, Fiji Airways, Hong Kong Airlines, Malaysian Air, alongside
other carriers, also use the platform.
Some of these airlines which fly directly into Nigeria are
South Africa Airways, Turkish Airlines, Asky Airlines, Egypt Air, Royal Air Maroc,
Middle East Airlines, Rwanda Air and Kenya Airways.
Recently, Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation, disclosed that
Nigeria currently holds $283 million of foreign airlines’ funds.
The money mostly proceeds from sales of tickets, but it is
trapped in Nigeria due to the forex crisis.
In line with the Bilateral Air Service Agreements (BASAs)
with countries, airline tickets are mostly sold in naira, while the airlines
would repatriate the funds in dollars through the country’s central bank.
“Aviation business suffers from issues of foreign exchange
by local and foreign airlines and their inability to repatriate blocked funds,”
Sirika had said.
“Nigeria currently
holds $283m worth of foreign airlines fund in the country. I humbly ask for the
support of the Central Bank of Nigeria through the directives of President
Muhammadu Buhari to aid access of both local and foreign airlines to foreign
exchange.”
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