Delta Air Lines, one of the United States’ main airlines and the world’s oldest airline, will cease operations in Nigeria.
What’s happening
It will discontinue flights between New York JFK airport and Lagos on October 4, 2022. The airline stated in a statement that the route suspension was necessary due to low demands. The airline continues to fly between Lagos and Atlanta, with connections to New York and other destinations around the United States.
Other issues
Emirates, located in Dubai, will suspend flights to and from Nigeria for the next ten days. The suspension is due to its inability to repatriate money owed to it by Nigerian authorities in US dollars.
On Wednesday, the last Emirates flight left Lagos at 20:00 local time. Affected travelers, according to the airline, can make other travel arrangements or cancel their plans. Prior to the suspension, the airline had decreased its weekly flights in Nigeria from 11 to seven.
It had previously stated that it will suspend flights on September 1st “to minimize further losses and impact on our operation expenses. It claims the government owes them $85 million ($73 million) from ticket sales.
British Airways has also curtailed its flying schedule due to a lack of money.
Digging Deeper
The Central Bank of Nigeria paid out $265 million to Nigerian airlines last week to prevent a crisis in the aviation sector; it is unclear how much of that went to Emirates.
The bank’s ability to settle the obligation is hampered by a lack of US currency.