By Chinelo Obogo, Lagos
Despite the lifting of the suspension of the ban on flights to and from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) into Nigeria by the Federal Government, Emirates Airlines has said that flight operations are still on hold and affected flight bookings have been cancelled.
On its website, the airline said: “Affected flight bookings have been cancelled. If your flight has been cancelled or impacted by route suspensions due to COVID 19 restrictions, you don’t need to call us immediately for rebooking.
“You can simply hold on to your Emirates ticket and when flights resume, get in touch with your booking office or us to make new travel plans.”
The Federal Government recently lifted the ban on the operations of Emirates airlines in and out of the country allowing flights from the United Arab Emirates to Nigeria to commence immediately.
The minister of aviation, Hadi Sirika, also stated that the ban was lifted after Emirates had removed its stringent conditions slammed on Nigerian travellers.
Sirika while briefing journalists said the ban on Emirates was lifted following communications received from UAE removing travel conditions the Nigerian government had opposed.
He said the UAE had removed the restrictions without conditions hence Nigeria reciprocated the gesture by lifting the ban on Emirates.
Following this, Air Peace said it will resume flights to Dubai via Sharjah on December 1, 2021.
The UAE, in its latest Coronavirus protocol, removed the Rapid Antigen Test (RDT) for COVID-19 as a prerequisite for travelling to the Middle East country for Nigerians and some other countries.
The FG also responded by lifting the ban it previously placed on UAE’s Emirates Airline’s flights into Nigeria.
A statement dated November 26, issued by the Aviation Business Management Team-Dubai Airports, indicated that RDT would no longer be required for all flights effective from Saturday, November 27, at 00:00 hours, for passengers travelling to Dubai from the following countries: the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Republic of Uganda, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Republic of Zambia.
According to the statement inbound passengers, who are eligible to travel to Dubai should comply with the following conditions: “The passenger(s) shall present a valid negative COVID-19 test certificate that is issued within the valid time frame, namely, (72) hours from the time of collecting the sample and from the approved health service that uses QR code system.
“Passenger(s) shall undergo a PCR (Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction) upon arrival at Dubai Airports.
“No approval is required from the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (ICA) or from General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) for the passengers from the aforesaid countries, to enter Dubai. No rapid PCR test report is required.
“The airlines shall ensure and/or verify the compliance of the above requirement(s) prior to passenger(s) boarding the aircraft and shall not accept any passenger(s) who does not fulfil the aforesaid condition(s) and/or requirements,” the statement said.