Abuja – Mr Muhammed Joji, General Secretary, Airline Operators Association of Nigeria (AOAN), says the new flexible foreign exchange policy announced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) cannot solve the problem of airlines.
Joji, who is the Managing Director of Sky Power Express, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Thursday in Abuja.
He said that only direct allocation of forex from the CBN would alleviate the suffering of the airline operators in the country, expressing the fear that the new policy would compound their problems.
Joji said that lack of access to forex had been a major challenge confronting airline business in Nigeria, explaining that every part of an aircraft including bolt, nut and screw were imported.
According to him, the operators are still waiting for CBN to produce the details of the guidelines for the new forex policy before they can take a position.
“I don’t think it will solve our problem because if they make it flexible it cannot solve the problem of airline operators.
“What we asked for was direct allocation because like I have always said, everything about aircraft, both the bolt and nut and screws are imported and are bought in foreign currency.
“So our situation is absolutely critical. We want the government to sit down and consider the problem of the airlines in particular with regard to forex policy,’’ he said.
NAN recalls that CBN had on Wednesday unveiled new guidelines in the management of foreign exchange (FX) which will be determined by the market and primary dealers. (NAN)