British Airways, Others Accused of Using Forex Scarcity to Rip off Nigerians, FG

Foreign airlines operating in Nigeria have been accused of devising a means of ripping off Nigerians and the federal government by taking advantage of the shortage of dollars in the foreign exchange market, and the gap between the official exchange rate and the parallel market rate, investigations have revealed.

According to sources in the industry and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the airlines procure their foreign exchange from ticket sales at the official rate of 199/$1 from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for onward repatriation to their home countries, but allegedly use the parallel market rate of over N300 to the dollar when Nigerians and other passengers opt to pay for their dollar-priced tickets in naira instead of using the official exchange rate.