By Shola Adekola | Lagos
President of Aviation Safety Round Table (ASRT), Dr Gabriel Olowo, has attributed the much talked about exploitation of the system by foreign airlines through exorbitant fares to the lacuna created by the Nigerian government and its relevant aviation authorities.
Olowo said the exploitative attitudes of the foreign carriers was as a result of the loopholes and choices which Nigeria failed to tackle and subsequently led to the consequences of what is referred to as exploitative fares.
Reacting to the news making the rounds about how Nigerians are being made to bear the brunt of exploitative fares being charged by the foreign airlines, the aviation expert traced the development to the decision by Nigeria to limit payments for travel only to naira in contrast to what is obtained globally where such payments are in dollars.
Citing the example of how in Nigeria’s case, naira payment is enforced despite the glaring weakness of the currency, Olowo said, “I beg to disagree that Nigerians are being exploited through the various restrictions on sellable fares at Point of Sales (POS) in Nigeria. It is a result of our chances, choices and consequences.
“Whereas Nigerian airlines whose major fuel uplift (fuel being the highest cost element) is here at home are bleeding, talkless of foreign airlines whose major cost elements are borne at their head offices outside Nigeria.”
Olowo, who is also the President of Sabre Network West Africa, noted that the decision by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to withhold foreign airlines’ over $500 million funds dating back to more than one year has eroded the actual value of the carriers’ trapped funds amid galloping devaluation.
The alternative, according to Olowo, was to permit payment options in dollars, credit cards and or any other strong currency but not restricted to the naira.
He said, “You can be sure the airlines will open all inventory immediately for sale because dollars will be remitted for dollars. Without being an advocate for foreign airlines, the services are highly needed and Nigerian carriers have not evolved to the level of filling the gap, not due to their own fault but that of the state. The state lacks the will.”
According to Olowo, until Nigeria births strong airlines, pressure on the naira would persist and restrictions on the Nigeria Point of Sale would remain, adding that no amount of appeal or coercion would solve the problem even as he described the situation as a simple “market dictates.”
The high fares which have been adjudged to be the most expensive globally has been traced to the foreign airlines trapped funds in Nigeria which they capitalised on to remove the low inventory fares that are known to be cheaper.
The pressure from the mega carriers not long ago, forced the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to release $265 million, remaining a balance of $200 million with the promise to release the balance soon even while the outstanding debt has again doubled the amount.
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