The international Air Transport Association (IATA) has called on the Federal Government to make Foreign Exchange (FOREX) available to aviation industry if it must survive and remain the catalyst for other sectors of the economy.
The call was made last week by the IATA Regional Director Dr. Samson Fatokun, during the presentation of IATA membership certificate to United Nigeria Airlines.
“For the government to support the aviation industry, there must be a clear line of forex support to the industry. You cannot have a catalyst industry supporting the economy and the blood nerve of that industry is being denied. How do you want it to be a catalyst?” Fatokun asked.
The IATA Regional Director who noted that the foreign exchange debt problem in the country is not limuted to foreign airlines alone but extended to domestic airlines said: “They are flying in this market where 90 per cent of their revenue is in local currency. In that local currency they have to attend to their cost of which 90 per cent is in dollars. How do you want them to maintain their operations without having access to foreign exchange”
He posited that for an industry as vital as aviation to sustain the stability it enjoys, government’s support for the ndustry should have a transparent forex support .
The IATA Regional Director who insisted that civil aviation businrsss is transacted in Dollar globally, said, the federal government should take cognisance of that and act appropriately.
“Airlines don’t buy aircraft in naira. They don’t maintain aircraft in naira. You don’t train your simulation outside in naira. The currency of the industry is the dollar and our Government needs to understand th/at.”
