Kenyan airline Jetlink has grounded its fleet after a shortage of dollars in one of its main markets, South Sudan, left it starved of cash, its chief executive said on Friday.
South Sudan, Africa's newest nation which broke away from Sudan last year, has suffered a severe shortage of hard currency since it stopped oil exports earlier this year due to a dispute with Sudan, which controls the export pipeline.
The South Sudanese oil minister has said the country could resume producing up to 230,000 barrels per day of oil by the end of November.
"We have suspended our flights from today and the reason is that we have accumulated a lot of Southern Sudanese pounds from our ticket sales in Juba," said Elly Aluvale, chief executive of Jetlink.
He said the airline, which operates a fleet of eight Bombardier CRJ jets, had about USD$2 million in local currency stuck in the South Sudan capital.
The fleet has been grounded at Nairobi's main airport.
Reuters
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