UN Halts Air Service in Northeast Nigeria Amid Funding Crisis

The United Nations has announced the suspension of its critical air service in Nigeria’s northeast, citing severe funding shortages that threaten to derail humanitarian operations in the conflict-hit region.

The U.N. Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS), managed by the World Food Programme, confirmed that its fixed-wing flights ceased last week after nearly a decade of ferrying aid workers, medical supplies, and essential cargo into hard-to-reach areas.

“In 2024, UNHAS fixed-wing flights carried more than 9,000 passengers. Already this year, 4,500 humanitarian staff have relied on the service to reach affected areas. UNHAS cannot continue without funding: $5.4 million is needed to remain operational for the next six months. Without this funding, the humanitarian response in north-east Nigeria risks being cut off from the very people it is meant to serve,” U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters in New York.

He explained that the service had for nine years connected relief workers to crisis zones in Borno and Yobe states. “In a country that has experienced 16 years of conflict, where road transport remains extremely dangerous, air transport is essential,” Dujarric said.

The shutdown highlights the wider financial strain facing the WFP. In July, the agency had already warned that emergency food and nutrition aid for 1.3 million people in the northeast could be suspended due to dwindling resources.

Margot van der Velden, WFP’s regional director for West and Central Africa, emphasized the urgency of donor support. She said the agency requires $5.4 million just to keep food and nutrition operations afloat in the region for the next six months.

Although Nigeria’s government has significantly funded the emergency response—emerging as its largest single financier—the UN stressed that international contributions remain indispensable to sustain relief operations at scale.

“The humanitarian response in northeast Nigeria risks being cut off from the very people it is meant to serve,” Dujarric warned, cautioning that the collapse of donor support could have devastating consequences. “Without air links, humanitarian workers lose safe access to remote conflict-affected communities, where millions are already grappling with hunger, displacement, and violence.”

The UN further noted that without intervention, families may be forced into desperate choices: enduring deeper hunger, migrating in unsafe conditions, or falling prey to extremist groups exploiting vulnerabilities in the region.

With global donor budgets stretched thin by crises in Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine, humanitarian agencies fear that Nigeria’s northeast—already scarred by insurgency and displacement—could become further isolated. As the UN statement concluded: “For Nigeria’s northeast, where insurgency and instability have already displaced millions, the loss of a vital air bridge may further isolate vulnerable populations at a time when they can least afford it.”