UN Suspends Air Service in Nigeria’s Northeast Over Funding Shortages

The United Nations has suspended a vital humanitarian air service in Nigeria’s northeast due to severe funding shortages. The UN Humanitarian Air Service, operated by the World Food Programme, ended its fixed-wing operations last week after nearly a decade of flying aid workers and supplies into conflict zones.

UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters in New York that the service, which transported more than 9,000 passengers in 2024 and 4,500 this year alone, requires $5.4 million to remain operational for the next six months. He warned that without funding, humanitarian response efforts risk being cut off from millions in need across Borno and Yobe states.

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The WFP has already cautioned that food and nutrition assistance for 1.3 million people in the northeast may be suspended. Its regional director for West and Central Africa, Margot van der Velden, said shrinking donor budgets have placed critical operations at risk despite Nigeria emerging as the largest domestic financier of the emergency response.

The UN warned that the loss of safe air transport could further isolate communities affected by 16 years of conflict, displacement, and hunger. It added that without urgent support, families may be forced into desperate choices, while extremist groups continue to exploit worsening humanitarian conditions.