The government has ended the crisis of transferring the money of foreign airline companies working in the local market through allowing them to transfer money directly abroad; however, Arab companies are still seeking to find a way to transfer their money.
Hotel management companies said that they are not facing difficulties in transferring their funds, especially as they collect the value in dollars without a maximum limit.
Sources from Lufthansa Airlines said that the company was no longer suffering from the issue of transferring the funds that were collected from its operations because the government has allowed transferring without a maximum limit. The sources refused to disclose the value of the funds transferred.
The claims of German Lufthansa have exceeded EGP 40m. The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has established a limit for the transfers of foreign currencies abroad.
Elhamy El Zayat, agent of American and Korean airline companies, said that foreign companies were able to transfer all their funds in banks until the end of January 2017.
He explained that all airline companies have transferred their funds and overcame the issues they had with the government over the past period, which led to a return of the practice of selling tickets to citizens without credit cards.
He pointed out that selling tickets through credit cards has caused booking companies large losses because they allocate employees for booking and these employees usually do not have specific jobs, but the companies still pay their salaries.
Sources from Arab airline companies said that they have transferred 90% of their funds in Egyptian banks to their parent companies abroad.
Tawfik Mohktar, the director of Nile Ritz Carlton Hotel, said that hotels collect their money in dollars, and do not suffer from the money transfer crisis, because they receive the money for their services in dollars from foreign guests.
The Ministry of Tourism obliged hotels to collect the money for their services from guests in dollars in order to maintain the revenues of the sector. When accommodation bills are paid in Egyptian pounds, papers must be provided to prove the conversion of the money in local banks.
Frank Naboulsi, the director of Fairmont Nile City Hotel, said that his company is not currently suffering from transferring its funds to the mother company abroad. He pointed out that current occupancies in hotels are 70%. They are expected to continue at this level or increase slightly during Ramadan and Eid Al Fitr celebrations.
