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Some reports have suggested the reason why Emirates Airlines has not gotten approval to resume flight operations to Abuja and Lagos.
According to a report from Thisday, the alleged insistence by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that only Emirates Airlines would be allowed to operate to Dubai from Nigeria has prompted the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, to deny the Middle East airline the approval to resume flights to Abuja and Lagos.
The report says that Sirika may not allow Emirates to resume flight operations to Nigeria until the UAE carrier drops the condition that it should be the only carrier operating from Nigeria. Emirates condition would mean that Air Peace and other carriers such as Ethiopia Airlines, Egypt Air and RwandAir would stop airlifting passengers to Dubai from Nigeria.
READ: Inbound flights must not exceed 200 Nigerians for two weeks – UAE embassy
Other News
According to the report, the Regional Terminal Manager, South West, in charge of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, Mrs Victoria Shin-Aba, confirmed that Emirates was yet to resume flights in Nigeria.
She said that until the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on Covid-19 provides the infrastructure that would be needed for the rapid test, Emirates Airlines would not resume operations in Nigeria.
She also disclosed that other international airlines have started flight operations and things have normalized, although the passenger traffic has not increased.
Travel agency operators have expressed their full support of the decision of the Federal Government not to allow only Emirates Airline to operate from Nigeria to Dubai as the travel agents would not make money and the airfares would be outrageously high if the airline was allowed to enjoy such monopoly.
This would also shut the door against Nigeria’s indigenous carrier, Air Peace that operates to Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.
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What you should know
It can be recalled that the Federal Government had directed the immediate suspension of outbound flights of Emirates Airlines for 72 hours with effect from February 4, until when the needed infrastructure and logistics were put in place for the Rapid Antigen Test (RDT) test by the Nigerian Government.
This follows accusations against the airline, that it was airlifting passengers from Nigeria using RDT done in laboratories that were not approved by regulatory authorities.
Emirates had insisted that it must conduct Rapid Antigens Test (RDT) for Nigerian passengers travelling to Dubai four hours before they board their flights and in addition to the accepted PCR test made compulsory by the federal government.
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What is even wrong with Nigeria and Emirates? Keeping thousands of people stranded, if uae does not want Nigerians in their country they should make it known other than frustrating traveller’s ??
I applied Dubai visa since February till date am really getting out of patient
What is really happening in this country is not fair ooo they really keep our money in somewhere now we can not travel they now tired our money down. for poor people that is trying to start life and make life easy for themselves
Please let Dubai flight open fast
Nigeria should barn Dubai from moving their cargoes to Nigeria from doing this flight will be approved
Two wrongs can not make a right – if UAE Government does not wanna shift grounds, I think Nigerian Govt should. This is not because of any other thing but because of its citizens who have things doing there. The UAE govt have nothing to loose by not coming to Nigeria. Emirates have several other routes to fly to.
I am therefore appealing to the Powers that be in Nigeria to shift grounds to give peace a chance. Doing this does not reduce Nigeria’s status in the international community. Thanks.
Nigeria government should try and look into this..there should try so that poor pple will have the chance to travel and have there business back…bcox soon many of them will loose there visa…
I think we need to protest for this , it’s getting out of hand
You are Right, thousands of people out there are stranded some visa are expired, people have been rebooking flights since February, and Hadi sirika minister of aviation is acting as if nothing is wrong, Emirates airlines are not losing anything because of the ban, Nigeria’s are losing, we are losing
This is not good at all. My younger brother’s visa just expired. Just like that. The government has to really do something about it.
Nigeria should try and resolve the issue with UAE, many of us have stays in Nigeria over or more than 6 months which is automatic cancel in UAE, some are now broke to the extent that they don’t have any means to travel back again,
My question now is will there be any compensation on those that stays up till 6 months?
May Allah help us.
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