The emergency relief coordinator, Tom Fletcher, has allocated $48 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund for urgent support to the UN Humanitarian Air Service.

The new funding will keep the UN Humanitarian Air Service operating in eight countries: Nigeria, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan and Syria.

This will allow thousands of humanitarian workers from the UN, NGOs, and civil society to continue their work.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told journalists at the UN headquarters in New York on Thursday that UNHAS was a lifeline, helping aid workers and critical supplies reach people in need, according to the World Food Programme.

However, he said that with humanitarian funding shrinking, UNHAS could be forced to suspend flights.

Mr Dujarric said the allocation was made possible by the recent U.S. contribution of $2 billion to UN-managed humanitarian funds.

The UN had halted its fixed-wing operations in Nigeria in September 2025 after running out of funds, cutting off a critical lifeline for aid workers in the country’s conflict-hit northeast.

The suspension comes amid a worsening funding crisis that has already forced the WFP to warn of possible cuts to emergency food and nutrition aid for 1.3 million people in north-east Nigeria.

In 2024, the UN service transported over 9,000 passengers, and in 2025, over 4,500 humanitarian staff depended on the flights to reach communities cut off by conflict in north-east Nigeria.

(NAN)