In a sudden twist of events 24 hours after the United Arabs Emirates relaxed its coronavirus (COVID-19) protocols for Nigeria and some countries, which necessitated its airline, Emirates to announce airlifting of passengers from Lagos and Abuja from 23rd of June, the airline has again announced the suspension of flights from Nigeria.
The airline stated this ‘sad’ development in a message to travel partners where it insisted that passenger flights to and from Nigeria (Lagos and Abuja) are suspended with effect from today (June 21, 2021) until further notice.
With this turn of events therefore, Nigerians travelling to and from Lagos and Abuja will not be accepted for travel, and those who have been to – or connected through – Nigeria in the last 14 days will not permitted to board from any other point to the United Arabs Emirates.
According to Emirates, “In line with government’s directives, passenger flights to and from Nigeria (Lagos and Abuja) with effect from 21st June 20121 until further notice. 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”, the statement added.
The airline also announced that flights from South Africa will remain suspended until July 6, 2021, in line with government directives that restrict the entry of travelers originating from South Africa, into the UAE. Daily passenger flights to Johannesburg will operate as EK763, but outbound passenger services on EK 764 remain suspended.
It added that customers who have been to or connected through South Africa in the last 14 days will not be permitted on any Emirates flights bound for Dubai. Emirates therefore advised Nigeria passengers to either keep their tickets for future flights or rebook flight to another date.
