UAE lifts ban on flights to and from Nigeria

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has lifted flight its ban on Nigerian travellers with effect from Thursday August 5 five months after imposing the ban.

Emirates airlines announced on its website that the UAE authorities have announced that effective 5 August 2021, eligible travellers from Nigeria and 10 other countries will be allowed to travel to/through the UAE.

The countries are India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Vietnam, South Africa, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Nepal.

Emirates in the short notice said, “We will publish details of the latest protocols and requirements on our travel requirements page, as soon as these are available.”

The ban has been in place since March this year with scheduled flights between Nigeria and the UAE stopped following a diplomatic row over Covid-19 protocols.

While the Federal Government stipulates negative PCR test as a requirement for travellers to Dubai, the UAE further imposed rapid antigen test as another condition for visitors to Dubai which the Nigerian government rejected and on the basis of which it banned the UAE flag carrier, Emirates, from coming to Nigeria.

Though, the ban was lifted, Emirates, on the instruction of the UAE government suspended flights to Nigeria.

The Lagos-Dubai and Abuja-Dubai routes are some of the most lucrative routes for airlines. Also travel agencies make fortunes from ticket sales on the routes.