The Nigerian government, yesterday, denied claims that international flight tickets had been dollarized, with foreign airlines allegedly dismissing the naira as the currency of the sale.
The heads of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) said none of the foreign carriers had informed the concerned agencies of any changes in ticketing modalities.
Also, they said that the regulatory agencies and service providers were yet to introduce new charges on operating carriers, contrary to claims in some quarters.
There has been news in the media that some foreign carriers have started selling tickets only in foreign currency. The move was to evade the forex liquidity crisis in Nigeria, related to an alleged upward review of charges by the authorities.
Shortly after conducting the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, on a tour of the new terminal at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, Director General of the NCAA, Capt. Musa Nuhu said the naira remains the statutory currency of sale in the aviation sector.
Nuhu noted that the regulation mandates operating airlines to inform the NCAA where there are significant changes, but none has approached the apex regulator on the dollarisation of flight tickets.
His counterpart in FAAN, Capt. Rabiu Yadudu reckoned that the charges collected by the agency are statutory, and therefore, cannot be increased without the knowledge of its esteemed passengers and other airport users.
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, pledged the commitment of the Buhari administration to resolving issues in the aviation sector, including the current row over foreign airlines’ blocked funds – now over $464 million as of July.
Mohammed said the new terminals are a testament to the commitment of the Buhari Administration’s “unprecedented infrastructure development covering roads, bridges, rail, water dams, seaports, and so on. No administration in the history of Nigeria has done this much, especially at a time of scarcity of resources,” he said.
Source: Guardian NG