Dubai travel restrictions on Nigerians may trigger retaliatory actions ― NANTA

Nigerians planning to travel to Dubai either for pleasure or business transactions may henceforth be subjected to tougher hurdles following the decision of the Dubai authorities to stop other airlines from flying them into the country.

Since the tactical travel ban was slammed on them with effect from Monday, many Nigerians including the travel agents and tour operators have been crying blue murder over the decision of the Dubai government.

Key players across the sector are calling on the Nigerian government to retaliate in what they termed the high international aero politics displayed against Nigeria by the Dubai authorities.

To many of the key players who spoke to the Nigerian Tribune, the only way they can show Nigeria is not a junkyard is to also ban Emirates airline from operating to more than one point in the country.

Commenting on the harsh decision of the Dubai government, the President of National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA), Mrs Susan Akporiaye, expressed shock at the insistence that Dubai-bound Nigerians must fly only Emirates airlines, foreclosing and boxing out transit routes opportunities into Dubai from other carriers.

Her words: “We are studying the situation and consulting widely as the new travel restrictions may put additional financial pressures on Nigerian passengers and also create a monopolistic hold on the route. Indeed, we don’t know what is going on in the minds of other countries and their airlines, a situation that may trigger off retaliatory actions.”

She further stated that the Dubai airport Authority should have shown its open hands in the effort to check the covid pandemic by requesting other carriers and their home governments to set up rapid response antigen test at their various airports to enable passengers on transit to undergo tests before flying into Dubai.

“We at NANTA believe that such gestures and arrangements will enhance the credibility of the additional covid-19 protocols into Dubai and also encourage others in the travel business to recover and contribute to building a global coalition against the impact of covid.

“We are worried and call on the minister of aviation to help intervene and interrogate this development. We appreciate the efforts of governments and airlines to help secure the lives of passengers and also protect their citizens which NANTA supports in all ramifications, but this additional requirement from Dubai airport Authority and Emirates is farfetched and we crave for better arrangements, possibly involving other stakeholders. In this pandemic situation, no man is an island,” Akporiaye further stated.

The Dubai airport authority has effective February first, closed its facilities to other airlines, flying passengers from Nigeria except they fly Emirates Airlines.

The rapid response antigen test can only be done in Lagos and Abuja with Dubai-bound passengers from the two Nigerian cities, paying N36,800 naira and N25,800 respectively, in addition to the PCR test from approved laboratories by Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC) and the Presidential Task Force.

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