The National Association of Nigeria Travel Agency (NANTA) has said that the Federal Government, through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has commenced phased payment of the foreign airlines’ trapped funds in the country.
The President of NANTA, Mrs Susan Akporiaye, disclosed this to journalists on Wednesday in Lagos.
According to her, some foreign airlines, which hitherto blocked their lower inventories against the travel agents, have started opening them up for sale.
Though she could not be specific on the actual amount released so far to the over 25 foreign airlines affected by the crisis, she said the government was paying the funds “in trickles.”
International Air Transport Association (IATA) had in February this year, revealed that the trapped funds in Nigeria amounted to $743,721,027 million.
This, according to IATA, made Nigeria the highest among countries in the world with trapped funds.
Akporiaye emphasised that the government and the airlines needed to work in unison for the benefit of the travelling public, lamenting that the travel agencies were one of the most hit by the crisis of the trapped funds.
According to her, “There is no 100 per cent halt; for instance, somebody is expecting $100,000 and he is getting $10,000. The payment is going on in tiny trickles. When we had a meeting with the Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, he never actually told us some people were given preferential treatment.
“No, all of them are in the situation in which it is just in bits and pieces. The window is still open for them to do their normal two weeks bidding but whatever comes in is very insignificant.
