Nigeria government proposes seat-for-debt plan for domestic carriers

Nigeria’s Federal Government is considering a seat-for-debt programme for domestic airlines.
Ethiopian Airlines has $90m in ticket revenue awaiting repatriation, including $45m blocked in Russia.
Sanctions restricting Russian banks’ access to SWIFT have prevented fund transfers.
$45m held outside Russia faces delays in Mozambique and Angola due to foreign exchange shortages.

Nigeria’s Federal Government has been considering a seat-for-debt programme that would allow domestic airlines to repay outstanding debts to aviation agencies by allocating discounted flight seats to government agencies instead of making cash payments, and the scheme aims to ease airlines’ cash-flow pressures while improving government debt recovery.

The scheme includes a settlement system that would automatically remit ticket sales charges to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority to prevent new debt accumulation. This initiative addresses long-standing financial challenges facing Nigerian domestic carriers.