The Federal Government has announced the lifting of the ban on Emirates Airlines into Nigeria.
Hadi Sirika, Minister of Aviation, announced this at a joint press conference alongside Geoffrey Onyeama, Minister of Foreign Affairs, at the Ministry of Aviation office in Abuja on Friday.
The suspension of the restrictions comes 10 months after a dispute between the Nigerian government and their counterpart in the United Arab Emirates over procedures of COVID-19 testing for Nigerians travelling to the UAE.
According to Sirika, Emirates Airlines, which is the flag carrier of the UAE, has removed some of its travelling conditions for Nigeria.
He said: “We are all aware of the situation of Emirates Airlines operations in Nigeria. So today we received communication removing some of the conditions for travel which we had concerns about.
“And having done so, and being the only impediments to their operations, we also accept to lift the ban on the operations of Emirates to the country beginning from today. This is a product of lengthy negotiations between us and them.”
The minister said the ban was lifted unconditionally, adding that Nigerians can now fly directly to the UAE and back into Nigeria without restrictions.
