May 15, (THEWILL) – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has said that they have no hand in the exchange rate applied to international flight tickets sold in Nigeria, insisting that it is incorrect to describe them as the “IATA exchange rate”.
IATA, in a statement issued on Monday morning, said “the exchange rate applied to international flight tickets sold in Nigeria are not determined by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and it is incorrect to describe them as the ‘IATA exchange rate’.”
According to the international aviation body, “airfares 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 clarified that what they do is simply apply 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,” IATA stated.
Anthony Awunor, is a business correspondent who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics (UNILAG). He is also an alumnus of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria Kaduna State. He lives in Lagos.
