After govt approval, UAE airlines resumes Nigeria flights

The Presidency has said Nigerian cabinet officials and their Emirati counterparts will soon finalize the terms of Monday’s visa ban lift.

President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, disclosed this to State House correspondents on Tuesday.

This was after Tinubu and the President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, met in Abu Dhabi, for talks which resulted in the immediate cessation of the visa ban placed on Nigerian travellers on Monday.

Consequently, “both Etihad and Emirates Airlines are to immediately resume flight schedules into and out of Nigeria, without any further delay,” a statement signed by Ngelale read on Monday.

In October 2022, the UAE banned nationals of about 20 African countries including Nigeria, from entering its borders.

However, in an exclusive chat with one of our correspondents, the President of the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agents, Susan Akporiaye, explained that Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airlines would resume flights into Nigeria after the approval of the Federal Government.

Akporiaye explained that the process of starting flights involved several steps and could not be initiated immediately.

She said, “There are processes involved. The flights also cannot start immediately as there are processes involved They will have to apply for flight schedule and time from the NCAA, NCAA will look at it against what they have operating with other airlines and revert back to Emirates and Etihad Airlines what has been approved then it will be loaded on the system & a flight comment date will be announced by the airline.

“Then the system will be opened for bookings & ticket issuance.”