The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has again extended the ban on Nigerian flights to March 20, 2021.
The latest extension came after the UAE authorities had on February 14, announced the extension of the suspension of flights from Nigeria till March 10, 2020.
A statement issued by UAE to back the latest ban which was sighted by Tribune Online declared: “In line with government directives, passenger services from Nigeria (Lagos and Abuja) to Dubai are temporarily suspended until March 20, 2021. Customers from both Abuja and Lagos will not be accepted for travel prior to or including this date. Passengers who have been to or connected through Nigeria in the last 14 days are not allowed entry into the UAE (whether terminating in or connecting through Dubai).
“Emirates flights from Dubai to Lagos and Abuja will continue to operate as per the normal schedule.
“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 to Dubai for our customers when conditions allow.”
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The back and front game overflights between the two countries was caused by the decision of the UAE government to ban airlines from Nigeria carrying Nigerian passengers into the United Arab Emirates’ country.
According to a circular which emanated from the Dubai Airport Operations Control Center then, titled ‘Dubai Travel Protocol Update-Travel From Nigeria’ and dated, Friday, January 2021, the Dubai authorities had declared: that from February 1, 2021, that all passengers departing from Nigeria to Dubai are required to obtain a negative COVID-19 certificate. The PCR should be conducted within 72 hours of the date of departure.
With the new UAE policy, all Nigerian passengers are required to conduct a rapid COVID-19 test and obtain a negative result within four hours of their departure time even while the Dubai government insisted that passengers from Nigeria must travel directly from Nigeria to Dubai while adding that; “No passengers may enter Dubai from any other country /station if they have visited or transited via Nigeria in the last 14 days.”
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) had in return suspended the operations of Dubai based Emirates airlines into Nigeria.
The decision of Nigeria to reciprocate the negative attitude of the UAE towards the Nigerian travellers and the only airline operating into the foreign country jolted the authorities who since then has been playing games with the Nigerian government.
Again, UAE extends ban on Nigerian flights till March 20
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