Emirates, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) airline, has finalized arrangements to resume flights with Nigeria. This decision comes after several visits by President Bola Tinubu to the UAE to address the communication breakdown between the two countries.
Appearing on Arise Television on Monday, Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, disclosed that Emirates Airline had expressed its preparedness in a letter sent to the Nigerian Government.
Keyamo clarified that the outcomes of the previous visits and discussions were authentic but were perhaps conveyed hastily.
He said: “Emirates flight resumption is almost happening. I just received a letter from Emirates. The letter is on my phone now. They have gone through all the gamut and they are ready to come back. They will announce the date because to restart a route, they must get an aircraft for that route.
“I am announcing to Nigerians for the first time; that I just received a letter from Emirates now. The letter is with me. I have a hard copy thanking you for all the efforts we made. Mr President was the showman here. He was the one who pushed for it. He made my job easy because he went there, and had a diplomatic shuttle to resolve all the issues.
“That was why I said the last announcement was hasty and not fake news.
“They will announce the date for their next flight. We have received a letter confirming that all the issues have been resolved and prepared to start coming back. It may be before June.”
Apart from Emirates suspending flights to Nigeria, in 2022, the UAE Immigration Department notified its trade partners and travel agencies that it was stopping visa applications from 22 countries, 20 of which are African nations.
