Foreign airlines commend CBN on clearance of trapped funds

Foreign Airlines operating in Nigeria have applauded the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the clearance of the backlog of part of the foreign exchange they could not repatriate to their country as part of revenue from ticket sales.

Recall that the CBN had fulfilled its pledge to clear the backlog of foreign exchange owed foreign airlines in the country as it concluded the payment of all verified claims by airlines with an additional $64.44 million to the concerned airlines.

Acting director of corporate communications at the CBN, Mrs Hakama Ali said the latest amount paid to the airlines brought the total verified amount paid to the sector to $136.73 million.

In a statement that was issued on Tuesday, she said all the verified airline claims had now been cleared.

In response, foreign airlines speaking  under the aegis of the Association of Foreign Airlines and Representatives in Nigeria (AFARN), the carriers said the clearance is a sigh of relief for operators and those carrying out flight services into and out of the country.

AFARN’s president, Kingsley Nwokoma, urged the CBN to adopt a quarterly payment plan for the remaining $ 700 million trapped fund with the CBN and other commercial banks.

Nwokoma said: “We thank the government for listening and doing it little by little but we hope they can do more or have an arrangement with the airline for quarterly payment that will be perfect.

“A systematic type of payment of every quarter will help defray the backlog and we can also get it behind us once and for all.”