Emirates Returns to Nigeria as Flights Land in Abuja, Lagos
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Nigeria aviation impasse may have been resolved as the Emirates Airline over the weekend resumed operations in Nigeria with its Flight EK783 landing at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.
The Emirates flight, which departed Dubai at 1030 hrs landed in Nigeria at 03.30 pm in Lagos, while another Flight EK785, arrived in Abuja after departing Dubai at 1100hours, landing at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) at 03.20 pm.
Emirates deployed the Three-Class Boeing 777-300ER which offers eight luxurious First-Class suites, 42 generous Business Class seats, and over 300 seats in Economy Class to both Nigerian cities.
Dubai remains one of Nigerian travellers’ most popular shopping and tourist destinations and is currently hosting the world for Expo 2020, until March 2022 with the theme ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’.
The Middle East carrier posited that Expo 2020 Dubai is set to inspire people by showcasing the best examples of collaboration, innovation and cooperation from around the world.
It added that the programme is packed with experiences to suit all ages and interests, including a rich line-up of themed weeks, entertainment, and edutainment which the Art and culture, as well as food and technology fans can explore, exhibits, workshops, performances, live shows and lots more.
However, the Emirates advised that all passengers travelling from Nigeria with Dubai as their final destination would require a 48-hour PCR test.
According to the Emirates, “Passengers must present a valid negative COVID-19 PCR test certificate with a QR code for a test conducted at an approved facility, and validity must be calculated from the time the sample was collected. Upon arrival in Dubai, passengers will undergo an additional Covid-19 PCR test and remain in self-quarantine until the results of the test are received.
“Passengers travelling from Nigeria and transiting in Dubai are required to follow the rules and requirements of their final destination.
The airline stated further that it had introduced a comprehensive set of safety measures at every step of the customer journey.
“The airline has also recently introduced contactless technology and scaled up its digital verification capabilities to provide its customers even more opportunities to utilise the IATA Travel Pass, which can now be used across 50 airports served by Emirates,” the airline added.
In furtherance to the restoration of a good relationship between the two countries, the Nigerian carrier, Air Peace had also announced that it would resume flights to Dubai on March 1, 2022.
