Travel agents deny plans to sell air tickets in dollars

National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies, NANTA, has denied plans to sell tickets in US dollars.

In a report by an online newspaper earlier (not The DEFENDER) that some foreign airlines operating in Nigeria will begin the sale of tickets in US dollars starting from April 19, 2022, due to difficulty in repatriating ticket sales from the country according to an advisory issued by APG to its travel partners titled: “APG IET: Restrictions of Sales in US dollars.”

However, the President of NANTA, Susan Akporiaye, said that the information is not accurate and that whoever put up the information did not consult NANTA.

She said that APG platform is only a distribution platform, which can assist airlines to generate additional revenue by selling air and non-air ancillaries.

According to her, “APG is not an airline and so cannot speak on behalf of airlines in Nigeria. I am the president of NANTA and I can say that airlines in Nigeria did not tell travel agencies that they will start issuing tickets in dollars because of the FX issue of repatriating their funds.

“As we speak, information from APG is saying that they will do a press release stating that the letter was sent without their consent and they will withdraw it. As we speak, the APG platform has been shut down, just to tell you that truly they were not aware.”

She said that airlines have stopped travel agencies in Nigeria from issuing tickets not originating from Nigeria, in an effort to cushion the impact of the funds stuck in Nigeria.

“This is not good for us because it is reducing our sales and the opportunity for us to service our clients properly,” the NANTA president explained.

“Airlines have removed lower inventory from their system because they have to source for these funds in the primary market and it is very expensive. The rate we sell in the system is not the same rate airlines get the dollars in the primary market.

“So, for the airlines to break even, they stopped selling their lower inventories. The fares have not gone up but it is just that the airlines are not selling their lower inventories.

“The ones being sold are the higher inventories. We sell at N444 per dollar on the system but the airlines are sourcing for dollars at N590 per dollar,” Akporiaye explained.