TheCable

Emirates Airline says it is keen to resume flight operations in and out of Nigeria as discussions by the federal government and United Arab Emirates (UAE) signalled a “positive way forward”.

Emirates Airline is the flag carrier of the UAE.

The airline said this on Friday in an email note to TheCable.

On Thursday, TheCable reported that the airline updated its website informing passengers that flight operations remain suspended till November 30 2021 in Nigeria — despite moves by the Nigerian government to end the 10-month row.

“The UAE government continues to advance its dialogue with the Nigerian authorities, and the latest discussions signal great optimism for a positive way forward,” the statement reads.

“We regularly update our website to keep our customers informed, and although our operations are still on hold, Emirates is keen to restart services to and from Nigeria, and are working closely with designated laboratories in Nigeria to provide the required tests and hope to be able to get all laboratories ready for implementation very soon.

“We are committed to Nigeria, and look forward to providing much needed connectivity for our customers, helping to meet growing air travel demand in and out of our two Nigerian gateways, and making air travel more accessible to and through Dubai to over 120 destinations across our global network.”

In February, Emirates directed Nigerian travellers at the Lagos and Abuja airports to conduct rapid COVID-19 tests before departure, which led to a ban on Emirates flights in Nigeria.

The ban was later lifted after the airline agreed to stop the rapid antigen tests. 

The federal government reintroduced the ban in March, explaining that Emirates had continued to conduct rapid antigen tests for passengers before departure from Nigeria.

The NCAA had said the moves by Emirates violated the country’s COVID-19 protocols — while Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation, described it as “discriminatory profiling” of Nigerian travellers.