The Emirates-Nigeria suspension saga has yet to see its final chapter. After a little over two months since resuming flights after some funds from ticket sales held by the government were released to the airline, the Dubai-based carrier has once more suspended services to the West African country. The decision again stems from what Emirates calls the lack of progress in repatriating funds due to the country's severe dollar shortage.

Asking for 80% of held funds

Emirates flights to Nigeria (both to Lagos and Abuja) have now been suspended since October 29, with no set date for when they might resume established. A spokesperson for the airline told Reuters that Emirates had engaged in negotiations and several meetings with representatives from the Nigerian aviation ministry to try and find solutions to releasing the funds (the value of which remains undisclosed). However, they commented on the proposition,

"This included the repatriation and receipt of at least 80% of our remaining blocked funds by the end of October 2022, in addition to providing a guaranteed mechanism to avoid future repatriation accumulation challenges and delays. Under these extraordinary circumstances, Emirates had no option but to suspend flights to/from Nigeria from 29 October 2022 to mitigate against further losses moving forward."

The statement, also shared with Premium Times Nigeria, continued,

“Without the timely repatriation of the funds and a mechanism in place to ensure that future repatriation of Emirates’ funds do not accumulate in any way, the backlog will continue to grow, and we simply cannot meet our operational costs nor maintain the commercial viability of our operations in Nigeria.”

Emirates flights to Lagos and Abuja were first suspended as a result of trapped funds from ticket sales at the beginning of September but rebooted ten days later after the Nigerian government agreed to release what was at the time a little over half of the blocked funds, equaling $256 million. However, Nigeria's foreign currency crisis continues to worsen, and the two parties, along with other carriers who have been unable to retrieve their money, have failed to find a permanent solution.

Nigeria "not afraid of being shut down"

At the time of Emirates' latest Nigeria suspension, the government was blocking approximately $700 million in funds from foreign airline operators. Other than the UAE flag carrier, this also includes carriers such as British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, and Qatar Airways, as well as Iberia, which has also suspended services and not returned.

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Meanwhile, the rhetoric from the Nigerian authorities at the end of October remained quite spirited, with the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, stating that,

“We are not afraid of being shut down. The country can thrive without the operations of foreign airlines. Countries have been shut down in the past for various reasons, yet they came out stronger. So, we cannot be intimidated. We are talking about the biggest market in Africa here, which cannot be compared with other countries in this part of the world. So, it is in the interest of the operators to be in business here. We are not going to be intimidated in any way at all.”

What do you think of Emirates' decision to once more cancel its flights to Nigeria? Share your comments on the situation below.

Source: Premium Times Nigeria, Reuters

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