It was a celebration galore at the Nnamdi Azikwe Airport, Abuja on Sunday evening when Emirates Airline touched down to resume daily services to Nigeria from Dubai.
The airline also landed simultaneously at the Muritala Muhammed International Airport Lagos amidst jubilation and symbolic water canon welcome at the two airports.
Upon the arrival of both flights from Dubai, EK 785 to Abuja and EK 783 to Lagos, a cake cutting ceremony was held between Emirates officials and the airport authorities to mark the resumption of operations.
The airline promised to deliver and consolidate on the state of the art services to its numerous customers in the country.
The Country Manager Nigeria, Paulos Legesse, said: “We are delighted to resume operations to and from Nigeria, and are pleased to see strong interest from our customers, reflected in robust forward bookings from the time of our announcement, as well as today’s full flights from Dubai to Abuja and Lagos.
“The services will also give our customers the opportunity once again to safely experience Emirates’ superior product and service, offering them convenient travel options to Dubai, an already popular destination for Nigerian travellers, as well as seamless connectivity other key cities across our network.”
The event in Abuja was attended by the airport officials including Airport Manager, Mahmud Sani and International Terminal Manager, Mrs Rasheedat Sule and many others.
The aircrafts deployed to both Nigerian cities were three-class Boeing 777-300ER and it offered 8 luxurious First Class suites, 42 generous Business Class seats, and over 300 seats in Economy Class.
Legesse added that customers across all classes were able to enjoy the airline’s regional delicacies onboard, as well as its renowned in-flight entertainment system, ice, featuring over 4,500 channels of on-demand entertainment, including Nollywood films and content.
Emirates operates to Abuja with EK 785 and 786. EK 785 departs Dubai at 1100hrs, arriving in Abuja at 1540hrs.
The return flight, EK 786 takes off from Abuja at 1900, arriving in Dubai at 0435hrs the next day.
Emirates flight EK 783 to Lagos departs Dubai at 1030hrs, arriving in Lagos at 1540hrs. The return flight EK 784 departs Lagos at 1810hrs, arriving in Dubai at 0415hrs the next day.
To ensure the safety of travellers, visitors, and the community, 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.
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 listed in order 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.
Since it safely resumed tourism activity in July 2020, Dubai remains one of the world’s most popular holiday destinations, especially during the winter season.
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