Published: 13 June 2018

Angola, Sudan and Zimbabwe are among the top five countries with national carriers that are failing to repatriate revenue from ticket sales to other airlines, APA reported on Tuesday.

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Venezuela, Angola, Sudan, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe were the top five carriers that owed other airlines more than US$4.5 billion in revenue from ticket sales and other activities at the end of 2017.

Angola owed other airlines about US$386 million while Sudan had a backlog of US$170 million and Zimbabwe sat on arrears of US$76 million.

Venezuela had the largest backlog, pegged at US$3.78 billion, while Bangladesh owed US$95 million.

IATA director-general Alexandre de Juniac said in a statement that the five countries account for about 92 percent of blocked funds that were not repatriated to other carriers.

De Juniac however noted progress in Angola’s efforts to reduce its repatriation backlog.

"We have made $120 million of progress from a peak of over $500 million in Angola. I encourage the government of Angola to work with airlines to help to reduce this backlog further," said de Juniac.

He also applauded Nigeria for clearing its US$600 million backlog in payments to other airlines.

Air Zimbabwe has faced viability challenges in the past two decades, which at one point resulted in its aircraft being confiscated by creditors.
- APA

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