Emirates will resume its passenger operations between Dubai and Nigeria from 5 December 2021, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) carrier said on Thursday morning.
This is coming nine months after the carrier suspended flights to Nigeria following a diplomatic row between the two countries over COVID-19 protocols.
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It would be recalled that in the wake of the restart of flight operations after the COVID-19 lockdown, the airline on the instruction of UAE authorities introduced a rapid antigen test in addition to the negative PCR test approved by the Nigerian government.
The government kicked against this and on this basis, flight operations stopped between the two countries.
However, the issue was recently resolved paving the way for the resumption of a direct flight between the two countries.
Emirates, the world’s largest international airline, said it will operate to and from its Nigerian gateways with daily flights, providing travellers from Nigeria convenient access to Dubai, which remains a highly popular holiday and business destination.
It said it would also enable travellers to safely connect via Dubai to the Emirates network of over 120 global destinations.
Emirates said it will operate to Abuja with EK 785 and 786. EK 785 will depart Dubai at 1100hrs, arriving in Abuja at 1540hrs.
The return flight, EK 786 will take off from Abuja at 1900, arriving in Dubai at 0435hrs the next day.
Emirates flight EK 783 to Lagos will depart Dubai at 1030hrs, arriving in Lagos at 1540hrs.
The return flight EK 784 will depart Lagos at 1810hrs, arriving in Dubai at 0415hrs the next day.
Throughout the pandemic, Emirates stated that it has been helping its customers travel safely and confidently, implementing industry-leading health and safety measures at every point of the travel journey, helping communities reconnect faster and facilitating economic recovery.
The airline has also been working hard to provide up to date, comprehensive travel information to its customers, as well as speeding up processes on the ground through digital verification for COVID-19 via the IATA Travel Pass, as well as touchless check-in and biometrics processing.
It added that COVID-19 PCR tests are mandatory for all inbound passengers arriving to Dubai, including UAE citizens, residents and tourists, irrespective of the country they are coming from.
This is to ensure the safety of travellers, visitors, and the community.
The airline added that travellers coming from Nigeria must hold a negative COVID-19 PCR test certificate for a test taken no more than 72 hours before departure.
Additionally, the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has specified designated laboratories for passengers departing Nigeria and travellers must obtain their certificate from one of the labs to be accepted on the flight.
Travellers coming from Nigeria will also need to take another COVID-19 PCR test on arrival at Dubai International Airport.
Passengers flying to Nigeria have to meet the requirements of their destination.
