The Nigerian government says it has directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to release a total of USD300 million in unremitted revenue to foreign airlines.
The announcement comes after IATA lumped the West African petrostate into the same category as Venezuela in June this year after complaints from foreign carriers that they were owed seven months worth of revenue (USD591 million) by the CBN.
Repatriation issues first arose during the second half of 2015 when dramatic falls in oil-related export earnings lead to shortages of foreign currency on Nigeria's official market.
Given the situation, and given a worsening scarcity of Jet A1 fuel, international airlines have either withdrawn from the market completely (Iberia and United Airlines) or dramatically scaled back their operations (Emirates and Kenya Airways being the most recent examples).
