…Keyamo says foreign airlines will get $500m trapped funds soon
Posted by Sade Williams
Nigeria and South Africa on Thursday, signed an agreement on air safety and how to assist the country in attaining high safety standards.
This is coming days after the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) conducted safety audit on the nation’s aviation sector, scoring it sector 70 percent.
The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the Aviation Africa Summit holding in Abuja.
Speaking shortly after the agreement was signed, Aviation and Aerospace Development Minister, Mr. Festus Keyamo said, “It is an immediate deliverable for me under the indicator ensuring enforcement of highest standards within our shores.”
“South Africa is doing 92% with ICAO; we are doing 70% and our agreement today is that we have signed an agreement with a bigger brother in terms of safety standards in Africa and we are proud to do so because of sharing intelligence with them that somebody is lifting us up. It is going to be a symbiotic relationship because there are also areas we are going to assist them with in terms of safety standards. That is what we did today”, he said.
He also said that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has concluded plans to give Nigerian carriers wishing to operate in the UAE reciprocal rights under the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) the country has with Nigeria.
He disclosed that he insisted on that with assurance from the UAE authorities that they would be granted any spot they choose to fly to.
He disclosed that said his ministry had begun to work out flight resumption of Emirates Airlines and Etihad, stressing that resumption of flights from the routes Emirates exited last year due to a diplomatic face-off could take a little more time.
Keyamo further stated that he would call for a stakeholders meeting to address myriads of challenges facing the sector, particularly on multiple charges and the fact that the Abuja and Lagos airports rank as the aerodromes with the highest levies.
Speaking on trapped funds, the Minister assured foreign airlines whose trapped funds are about $500 million that they would be paid soon, stressing that the country is not doing the carriers favours by paying them their monies.
According to him, “It is their trapped fund that is there and earned already. The problem was caused by issues of liquidity and that is our problem “.
“The issue of liquidity is been addressed right now and it is something the President is very concerned about. We addressed that issue in the UAE. We have begun to work out the details of flight resumption “.
He promised to give his support to the local carriers’ initiatives.
