The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has come out to distance itself from being responsible for the exchange rate applied to international flight tickets in Nigeria.
OsunDaily News gathered that the association clarified its position on the issue of the exchange rate for international flight tickets in a statement sighted by The Punch.
IATA’s reaction follows reports claiming the body is responsible for the hike in exchange rates in the sector.
The body said airfares for international flights from Nigeria are denominated in US dollars and converted into naira, the local currency, for sale in the Nigerian market.
According to the association, the conversion process uses the official prevailing exchange rate provided by the country’s financial system, noting that IATA simply applies the spot rate at which the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sells USD through banks to the market at its fortnightly retail foreign exchange auctions.
IATA said: “The exchange rate applied to international flight tickets sold in Nigeria are not determined by IATA, and it is incorrect to describe them as the “IATA exchange rate.
“The exchange rate applied to international flight tickets sold in Nigeria are not determined by IATA and it is incorrect to describe them as the ‘IATA exchange rate’.
“Air fares for international flights from Nigeria are denominated in US Dollars and converted into Naira, the local currency, for sale in the Nigerian market.
“These conversions use the official prevailing exchange rate provided by the country’s financial system.
“IATA simply applies the spot rate at which the Central Bank of Nigeria sells USD through banks to the market, at its fortnightly retail foreign exchange auctions.
“The rate is not static, i.e. if the rate at which the CBN sells USD goes up, the exchange rate applied to airfares will follow and vice versa.”
It would be recalled that the exchange rates for international air tickets in Nigeria recently rose by 37.5% above the official rate of N461.1/dollar to N634.0/ dollar, which has led to the increase of airfares from international airlines.
