Emirates Airlines is set to resume its flight operations to Nigeria on October 1, 2024, marking a significant return to the country after a two-year hiatus.
This was disclosed by the airline on its verified X handle on Thursday, May 16, 2024.
Emirates wrote: “We’re back Nigeria! We’ll be resuming services to Lagos from 1 October 2024, and we can’t wait to offer unrivalled connectivity to Dubai and beyond to over 140 cities.”
Earlier, Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, SAN, hinted the development.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, Keyamo revealed that he met with the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Nigeria, Salem Saeed Al-Shamsi, in Abuja on Tuesday. During the meeting, he said Al-Shamsi handed him a correspondence from Emirates Airlines confirming the flight resumption date.
The Minister wrote: “Yesterday (On Tuesday), I paid a working visit to the Ambassador of the UAE to Nigeria, His Excellency, Salem Saeed Al-Shamsi at the UAE Embassy in Abuja,” Keyamo stated. “He handed me a correspondence from the Emirates Airline indicating a definite date of their resumption of flights to Nigeria. That date will be formally announced by Emirates Airlines in a matter of days.”
This announcement marks another effort by the Nigerian government to restore flight operations between Nigeria and the UAE.
Recall that in November 2023, Keyamo had previously announced that Emirates Airlines would soon reveal the exact date of their return to Nigerian skies.
The flight suspension between Nigeria and the UAE had been part of a broader diplomatic row. The two countries have faced longstanding issues related to the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA). More recently, visa restrictions have compounded the situation, affecting many Nigerian migrants and tourists who consider the UAE a top destination.
It will be recalled that Emirates Airlines halted its flights to Nigeria in 2022 due to difficulties in repatriating trapped funds in the country. Despite a meeting in September 2023 between Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, where it was rumoured that the UAE had lifted its visa ban on Nigerian travelers, the ban remains in effect. Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga later clarified that the UAE had not lifted the visa restrictions on Nigerians.
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