Airline operators groan over dollar scarcity

The Airline Operators in Nigeria (AON) has expressed concern over difficulty in accessing dollars for ease of their business.
According to Daily Trust,the operators, led by Capt. Noggie Megisson, met recently with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele, on the need for the CBN to make foreign exchange available to them at the official rate.

A dollar currently exchanges at N197 officially but it has hit N340 at the parallel market.
Accountable Manager of Dana Air, Mr. Obi Mbanuzuo, said dollar scarcity had taken a big toll on airlines in Nigeria.
“Whereas we sell our tickets in naira, most of our operations are dollar based,” he told Daily Trust.
An expert, who spoke on condition of anonymity, gave further insight into the dollar scarcity as it affects the airline.
The expert said, “First Nigeria doesn’t manufacture aeroplanes and we don’t have maintenance hangar, the aircraft are brought in from abroad. Again, an aircraft is expected to be sent out for maintenance every 12 months or at most 18 months, this costs the airline huge amount of foreign currency.
“So I really pity the airlines because while they sell their tickets in naira, they do most of their things in dollars.”
Checks by Daily Trust indicate that aircraft maintenance costs a minimum of $150,000 whereas an aircraft is expected to be sent for maintenance (C- check) every 12 or 18 months.
An industry regulator said, “Another aspect that consumes foreign exchange is training. Most of our trainings are carried out abroad and you need dollar to fund the trainings. This is also responsible for the dearth of experts in the industry because the cost of training is expensive.”
Speaking on the development, Megisson expressed hope that the CBN would come to their aid to ease the operating environment for the airlines.

Source:dailytrust.com.ng