The Group Chief Executive Officer, Ethiopian Airlines, Mesfin Tasew has the devaluation the naira by the government affected the cash management flow of the East African carrier.
Tasew stated this on the sideline of the inauguration of the airlines’ e-commerce cargo terminal in Addis Ababa, which is first of its kind in Africa.
He said the airlines has been unable to repatriate its funds which have been accumulating in Nigerian banks, adding that the carrier has lost some amount of money due to the devaluation of the naira and the instability of the exchange rate.
He said: “You are absolutely right that naira has been devalued extensively and that has affected our cash management because since we are not able to take out our money, which is accumulating in Nigerian banks and due to the devaluation, we lost some money in the exchange rate”.
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He however stated that the airline has been having impressive passenger volume, noting that, the naira devaluation, had no impact on it passenger volume.
“In terms of passenger volume, we didn’t see any negative impact so far. The load is very good, Nigerians are still travelling abroad and they are using Ethiopian Airlines. The traffic volume is still at the same level. We didn’t feel it negatively. “
