The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said it does not determine the exchange rate applied to international flight tickets sold in Nigeria and it is incorrect to describe them as the “IATA exchange rate”.
The airlines’ association said in a short statement that air fares for international flights from Nigeria are denominated in US dollars and converted into Nigeria’s local currency, naira, for sale in the Nigerian market.
“These conversions use the official prevailing exchange rate provided by the country financial system.
“IATA simply applies 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, that is, if the rate at which the CBN sells USD goes up, the exchange rate applied to airfares will follow and vice versa,” it said.
