He clarified that the initial money being owed to the foreign airlines was about $700 million out of which the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has cleared $136.73 million, adding that the remaining balance were transactions the foreign airlines had with the commercial banks.

“It is the naira component deposited at the commercial banks that the banks have not been able to pay them the dollar equivalent, not the CBN,” he explained.

The minister, who spoke on the sidelines of the 10th edition of the Annual Aviation Workers Week and Award Niger in Abuja, added:

“The ones for the CBN are actually the ones they promised to pay during their normal weekly auction they did two to three years ago up to this year. The CBN has been able to fulfill that obligation to foreign investors. Government has shown its capacity to fulfill its dollar obligation to foreign investors.”

On whether the high exchange rate would lead to high airfares, the minister stressed that the government was doing all it can to force down airfares.

He reiterated that the government was working hard to ensure that local airlines are competitive on the foreign route, saying one of the ways to achieve that is to allow local airlines to have access to dry leases at single digit.

He said:

“There is no way our local airlines can compete for loans at 26 per cent. What we are doing is to go all over the world to get aircraft for them so that they can compete in those routes that our Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) has allowed us to compete in.

“If for instance British Airways has 14 slots to come into Nigeria every week, we should also have our local airlines reciprocate and have 14 slots going to the UK every week. That competitiveness is what will force down the price.”

Keyamo also disclosed that the relocation of the headquarters of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) would save the Federal Government the sum of N1 billion annually.

He said that the decision to move the headquarters back to Lagos was after consultation with stakeholders including workers’ unions in the aviation sector.

The minister, who also got an award, congratulated the workers for sustaining the annual event.

He stated that the theme of the aviation week, ‘Workers as Strategic Partners in Achieving the Aviation Road Map’ was apt as the aviation industry cannot succeed without the workers.   He noted that how the workers are treated would determine their level of efficiency.

Hector Nnamdi, the chairman, Joint Consultative and Negotiating Council, who said the movement of FAAN to Lagos was in national interest, noted that the event, which marks the grand finale of the programme, was tailored towards a contemporary subject in the aviation sector.

“Without doubts, the Nigerian aviation industry has witnessed a series of policy overhauls with moderate results. We pride ourselves in the implementation of the Aviation Roadmap from 2012 till date. It must, however, be re-emphasised that over the years, the critical roles of workers in the industry had not received the desired attention from the drivers of the roadmap, hence the minimum results achieved,” he said.

He, however, expressed confidence that the minister would partner with the workers for maximum input.

According to NANTA, the loss was due to a reduction in ticket sales, as international airlines operating in Nigeria restricted all low ticket stocks on their websites and continued to offer the highest inventories while passengers struggled to locate affordable tickets.

Mrs. Susan Akporiaye, NANTA’s National President, said airfares had risen over 400 percent to all international destinations and this is due to the $550 million trapped funds, she added: “The situation at hand has made Nigerian travelers patronize agents in other African countries.

“Only less than 30 percent of tickets sold in Nigeria were done by local agents, with this, the Nigerian government is losing a lot of tax.

“To reduce the amount of money that would be trapped in Nigeria, the foreign airlines have also stopped local travel agents from issuing tickets emanating from other countries into Nigeria.

”They also found that, despite growing airfares, the sector lost over 720,000 jobs, with local agents selling fewer than 30% of tickets sold in Nigeria due to trapped aviation funds.

NANTA said it is hurt, anxious, and worried, over the job losses recorded in the sector, citing security risks to Nigerians traveling across borders to connect cheaper flights.

“Also, the shame of a parallel dollar monetary policy in the travel sector against established national naira monetary policy.

” We are also worried that none of our political parties has deemed it necessary to look at aviation economics, mainly, its homogeneous socio-economic and security opportunities.

They asked the FG to follow through on the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) and other existing aviation regulations, which would open the sector to significant domestic and foreign investors.

“We advise the new government to follow up keenly on Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) and other extant aviation laws which will open our economy to serious local and foreign investors; we are also remaining available for consultation.”