The United Arab Emirates (UAE) airline giant, Emirates Airline has announced suspension of its operations to Nigeria come September 1st, 2022.
The Airline which reduced its flight frequency to Nigrria about two months ago said in a statement that its decision was based on its inability to repatriates its funds from the country. DailyNewscraft.ng gathered that about $85million is trapped in Nigeria as at today.
The Airline said it has tried all available avenue to resolve this challenges of funds repatriation but not successful.
The statement said the management of the Airline has also embarked on several strategies including dialogue with all the major stakeholders for earlier resolution of this challenges to no avail.
Emirates Airline said ” Regrettably there has been no progress.Therefor , Emirates has taken the difficult decision to suspend all flights to and from Nigeria, effective September 1 2022, to limit further losses and impact on our operational costs that continue to accommodate in the market “
” We sincerely regrets the inconvenience caused to our customers, however, the circumstances are beyond. At this stage we will be working to help impacted customers make alternative travel arrangements whenever possible “
” Should there be any positive developments in the coming days , regarding Emirates blocked funds in Nigeria, We will of course re-evaluate our decision. We remain keen to serve Nigeria ,and our operations providing much needed connectivity for Nigerian travellers, providing access to trade and tourism opportunities to Dubai and to our broader network over 130 destinations ” across the globe.