The Managing Director, Dees Travels and Tours Limited, Mr Daisi Olotu has declared that the only way for the federal. Government to wriggle out of the controversial trapping of the over $700 million funds belonging to foreign carriers in Nigeria is to allow them to sell their tickets in any currency of their choice…….CONTINUE READING>>>>>>
While expressing regrets over the crisis the issue of the trapped funds has generated, Olotu maintained that once the foreign carriers have the enablement to choose the currency for their tickets transactions, that the issue of trapped funds would automatically be resolved.
According to Olotu, allowing the foreign airlines to sell their tickets in the currency of their choice will equally save the federal government the rigour of having to source for dollars to pay the airlines when they sell in naira.
The threat by the airlines to quit flying into the country as a result of their failure to repatriate their funds out of the country has also been dismissed.
The Dees Travels and Tours CEO, who is also one of the presidential candidates in the forthcoming National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies’ (NANTA) generation election, however dismissed the threats by some of foreign carriers to leave the country because of the trapped funds, saying the threat was not possible.
Olotu said “You are saying airlines should not sell in dollars, don’t collect in dollars and their monies in naira you refused to give it to them in dollars, do you want them to go away from Nigeria? It is only the enlightened ones that are travelling and when you travel, you must get your tickets from somewhere and when you get it, there must be taxes that you have to pay to government.
“Government must wake up to this because it is their responsibility, it is what they have signed to do. You have signed an agreement that airlines must be able to repatriate their money. The moment they cannot repatriate, it’s now a problem. Am a Nigerian that loves Nigeria more than anything else, let them sell in whatever currency they want to sell.”
Revealing how the travel agencies in Nigeria had close to zero relationship with the airlines operating into the country in the last three years, Olotu expressed worries over how despite the fact that the travel agencies work for the airlines, the carriers had not reciprocated the gesture by participating in their events.
He assured that if elected into office as NANTA President, he would ensure a more robust relationship with the airlines, especially the foreign carriers.
“When I say, we work for the airlines, you can see everything in my office, you can see airplanes, Dees Travels does not owe a plane, you see Delta, Turkish, KLM because we sell their products, we sell their tickets.
“In the airline business now, it is no longer tickets you sell, there are a lot of products that the airlines too they have that we are also selling to customers. That is what I mean we sell airline products.”…….CONTINUE READING>>>>>>
