The Federal Government on Friday announced that it has officially lifted the suspension of flights by Emirates Airlines into and out of Nigeria.
It said the suspension was canceled due to the resolution of differences between Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates after the UAE lifted some of the restrictions imposed on travelers from Nigeria as part of measures to contain COVID-19.
The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyema, announced this at the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Aviation last night in Abuja.
Sirika said, “We are all aware of the situation of Emirates Airlines operations in Nigeria. So today we received communication removing some of the conditions for travel which we had concerns about.
“And having done so, and being the only impediments to their operations, we also accept to lift the ban on the operations of Emirates to the country beginning from today. This is a product of lengthy negotiations between us and them.”
Sirika also stated that the ban was lifted unconditionally, adding that going forward, Nigerians could fly directly to the UAE and back into Nigeria without restrictions.
The aviation minister said on Friday that the impeding issues between both countries had been resolved and that Emirates had officially resumed operations in Nigeria.
