Nigerian Airline operators threaten to sue FG over multiple entry points granted foreign airlines

The operators insisted that allowing each foreign carrier to operate at more than one airport in Nigeria enhances their repatriation of foreign currency and also shrinks the market for domestic carriers.

Yunusa Abdulmunaf, president of AON, said this at the association’s first-quarter breakfast business meeting in Lagos on Thursday, March 31, 2022.

The event, organised by the Aviation Round Table (ART), was themed ‘Economic Implications of Multiple Entry Points by Foreign Airlines Into Nigeria’. 

Abdulmunaf said the body had decided to challenge the government in the court of law on the current policy on multiple entries to foreign airlines if not reviewed.

The body also stated that for any foreign airline or investor to invest in the new national carrier, it must deposit at least $200 billion with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to be sure of its seriousness, saying that no airline should use Nigeria as a dumping ground for unused aircraft.

AON was reacting to the federal government’s explanation that the multiple entries to foreign airlines was a good economic decision, but regretted that it put pressure on the foreign exchange for Nigeria.

Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation, had earlier said that although the multiple entries granted to foreign airlines were good for the economy, the development was putting pressure on the country’s foreign exchange.