Nigerians who are fond of rushing off to Dubai for either leisure or business will in the next two months have a hard time flying to United Arab Emirate as UAE, announced an extension of the ban on passengers flights out of Nigeria from February to March. Speaking through the country’s carrier, Emirates airlines, the authorities said that the February 28th date of reopening flights will no longer be feasible.
According to a release from the airline titled : “Temporary Suspension of PAX uplift from Nigeria to Dubai – update Emirates said : “As instructed by the UAE authorities, the uplift of passengers on Emirates from Nigeria (LOS & ABV) to Dubai is temporarily suspended up to and including the 10th March 2021. Affected services are, EK784 LOS-DXB and EK786 ABV-DXB. Note also that passengers who have been to or connected through Nigeria in the last 14 days are not allowed to enter the UAE (whether terminating or connecting onwards) Flights from Dubai to Nigeria (EK783 DXB-LOS & EK785 DXB-ABV) are not affected by this suspension and these flights will continue to operate as per the published schedule. The operational status of EK (Emirates) services from Nigeria after the 10th March 2021 is under review & further updates will be published in due course.”
“For passengers affected kindly apply re-booking options provided in our COVID-19 waiver policy previously communicated. We hope to revert to you as soon as possible, regarding the status of our future flights.”
Recall Nigeria and UAE have been locked in disagreement over the observance of the covid-19 protocols. The UAE authorities have hardened its protocols for visitors to Dubai. It introduced new rules to Nigerian travellers to Dubai. The new rules by Dubai Airports banned flights from any other point to Dubai from Nigeria. They insist only on direct flights from Nigeria .
Nigeria government retaliated by banning Emirates flights out of Nigeria, insisting that the airline should suspend it Rapid Antigen Test, which the airline said was a prerequisite for granting other airlines access into Dubai. The suspension was, however, later lifted by Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, following instructions from the United Arab Emirates government that the Emirates suspend the Rapid Antigen Test pending when the Nigerian government would have put infrastructure in place to meet the airlines request.
