The development comes shortly after the Central Bank released $265 million to foreign airlines amid threats by the international carries stop operations in Nigeria.
![Fly Emirate plane used to illustrate the story. [PHOTO CREDIT: Emirate Web Page]](https://gazettengr.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Fly-Emirate.jpg)
The release comes as international airlines began a wind down of their operations in the country.
British Airways would no longer be selling new tickets until the situation is resolved.
“Frozen funds belonging to the airlines have risen to about $600 million as the CBN had not been able to make the dollar available for the carriers to repatriate.”
“IATA is disappointed that the amount of airline money blocked from repatriation by the #Nigerian government grew to $464 million in July,” said the association.
Emirates Airlines has announced that it will temporarily cease flying into Nigeria from September 1.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) says African airlines’ traffic rose to 116.2 per cent in April 2022 compared to a year ago.
The ranking, based on the most travel-friendly passports, indicates that Ghana is far ahead of Nigeria standing on the 84th spot.
Singapore wants to be among the first countries to reopen to host international events.
Annual cash burn for airlines is pegged between $75 billion and $95 billion.
