United Arab Emirates flagship carrier, Emirates airline has once again announced indefinite suspension of flights from Nigeria.
The new development comes barely 48 hours after UAE announced that it has finally lifted the ban on travels between Dubai and Nigeria.
Read Also: UAE Eases Travel Restrictions For Passengers From Nigeria
Dubai earlier this year placed a ban on travelers from Nigeria, South Africa based on breach of Covid-19 protocols.
Then on Sunday, UAE in a message from the Dubai Media Office announced that passengers from Nigeria are expected to “provide a negative result for a PCR test taken within 48 hours before departure” of flights from Nigeria to Emirates.
The authorities initially fixed Wednesday, June 23, 2021, for resumption of flights to Nigeria.
However, in a statement on its website on Monday, the airline said UAE made a U-turn with a new travel update indicating that Lagos and Abuja flights would no longer resume on Wednesday as earlier announced.
It stated;
In line with government directives, passenger flights to and from Nigeria (Lagos and Abuja) are suspended with effect from 21 June 2021 until further notice.
Customers travelling to and from Lagos and Abuja will not be accepted for travel. Customers who have been to or connected through Nigeria in the last 14 days are not permitted to board from any other point to the UAE.
We regret the inconvenience caused, and affected customers should contact their booking agent or Emirates call centre for rebooking.
Emirates remains committed to Nigeria, and we look forward to resuming passenger services when conditions allow.
Reason for the change of plans was however not revealed in the statement and Nigerian authorities were yet to make their remarks about the development, as at the time of filing this report.
