Following Nigeria’s release of the vast bulk of the blocked payments, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Tuesday asked Pakistan and Bangladesh to address obstacles that prevent airlines from repatriating ticket proceeds.
According to the world trade organization, Pakistan and Bangladesh together owe $731 million of the $1.8 billion in blocked airline funds worldwide.
A number of nations have experienced challenges with money repatriation as a result of currency declines, a scarcity of US dollars, or bureaucratic obstacles.
“We are pushing them to give the airlines’ finances top priority, as this is critical to both their economic and airline operations,” IATA’s regional vice-president for North Asia, Xie Xingquan, stated.
According to him, the biggest issue facing Pakistan is the time it takes for airlines to file audit and tax exemption certificates.
“In Bangladesh, I think the key issue is they just lack the US dollars for foreign currencies,” Xie remarked.
According to IATA, Nigeria has cleared 98 percent of the $850 million in blocked money as of June 2023.
IATA Director General Willie Walsh stated, “We are on the right path and urge the government to clear the remaining $19 million and continue prioritizing aviation.”
Once the local currency depreciated, carriers in Nigeria had difficulty reimbursing profits in US dollars.
According to IATA, a number of airlines had to scale back operations due to the large amount of blocked payments, and one airline had to stop flying to Nigeria.
According to IATA, Egypt also accepted the release of its blocked payments, and when paired with Nigeria, these two countries helped cut the overall backlog by about 28% since December of last year. As of June 2023, Nigeria had cleared 98% of the $850 million in withheld funds, according to an IATA report released on Sunday.
According to IATA, Egypt also accepted the release of its blocked cash, and when paired with Nigeria, these two countries helped cut the overall backlog by about 28% since December of last year.
According to IATA, additional nations that have not yet released money owed to airlines include Algeria, Ethiopia, and Lebanon.
 on Tuesday asked Pakistan and Bangladesh to address obstacles that prevent airlines from repatriating ticket proceeds.){kind=link}