Worried by the mishandling of the issues concerning foreign airlines $600 trapped funds by the government and the comments by some interested groups, a leading non-governmental body, Aviation Round Table (ART), has expressed dismay at what it describes as the appalling handling of the accumulated foreign airlines’ funds trapped in Nigeria, due to the non-allocation of forex to these airlines.
ART cited that in all Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA), an Article in the agreement transfer of earnings clearly stated that “each designated airline shall have the right to convert and remit to its country on demand, local revenues in excess of sums locally disbursed. Conversion and remittance shall be permitted without delay in accordance with the prevailing foreign exchange regulations.”
While declaring that international trade was bound by agreements which were sacrosanct and respected, ART argued that Nigeria cannot do otherwise if it was to crave the attention of investors in the country’s aviation industry.
“It is important to state that foreign airlines sold these tickets at the official IATA rate and cannot be expected to go to the parallel market to source, convert and remit as opined in some quarters. The Central Bank should do the needful as enshrined in the BASA agreements.
“These funds should have been remitted at the official rate on date of sale immediately the airlines get clearance after paying all the local obligations including taxes.”
“The damage that our action has done to the Nigerian image as an investment-friendly nation is far reaching, while the citizenry is faced with high fares, reduced capacity and limited travelling options, which will worsen if we continue on this trajectory. We found ourselves in this unenviable situation because we lack capacity to compete, which would have reduced the remittance volume.
“The unborn Air Nigeria cannot produce this capacity, irrespective of the funds allocated, but by an aggregated process of developing our industry to produce vibrant flag carriers that will be courted for commercial partnerships which is the purveyor for successful international flight operations.
“We are also of the opinion that to kick-start this process, a functional and credible data gathering methodology for the industry is a necessity. We cannot continue to blow hot air without verifiable data,” the aviation body said.
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