United cancels Nigeria route, ending its only flight to Africa

United Airlines will stop flying to Nigeria next month, ending the carrier’s only route to Africa because of weakness in the energy sector and difficulties in collecting money from tickets sold in that country. The daily route from Houston to Lagos had underachieved for years but was kept alive because of its importance to Texas-based customers, United Continental said in Wednesday. The last flight will be June 30, after which Delta Air Lines will be the only major US carrier flying to Africa. Nigeria has restricted the amount of money that can be moved abroad after the global slump in oil prices depleted the govt’s US currency reserves. “Repatriation has been a significant issue, as has been the downturn in the energy sector,” said a United spokesman. <br/>