United Airlines will stop flying to
Nigeria next month, ending the carrier’s only route to Africa because of
weakness in the energy sector and difficulty in collecting money from
tickets sold in that country.
The daily route from Houston to Lagos had underachieved for years but was kept alive because of its importance to Texas-based customers, United Continental Holdings Inc. said in a note to employees Wednesday. The last flight will be June 30, after which Delta Air Lines Inc. will be the only major U.S. carrier flying to Africa.
Nigeria has restricted the amount of money that can be moved abroad
after the global slump in oil prices depleted the government’s U.S.
currency reserves. The country owed airlines about $575 million in air
fares as of March 31, according to the International Air Transport
Association.
“Repatriation has been a significant issue, as has been the downturn
in the energy sector,” said United spokesman Jonathan Guerin, who
confirmed the note’s authenticity.
Passengers can still fly to Nigeria on United’s trans-Atlantic
business partner, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, through a connection in
Frankfurt. The Boeing Co. 787 serving Lagos will be used on the San
Francisco-to-Tel Aviv route, which will expand to daily in October from
three times weekly, according to the airline note.
http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/2016/05/united-airlines-cancels-houston-to-nigeria-route-ending-its-only-flight-to-africa.html/
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