Emirates Airlines resumes its weekly flight schedule to Nigeria after spat with UAE ends

NIGERIA and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have finally resolved their aviation dispute that has resulted in the federal government reinstating its approval for Emirates Airlines’ winter flight schedule consisting of 21 weekly passenger flights into the country.

Last year, Nigeria barred Emirates Airlines from operating in the country as from September 21 as part of its imposition of reciprocal restrictions on airlines who country do not allow Nigerian flights into their airspace. Emirates Airline is a subsidiary of the Emirates Group, which is owned by the government of Dubai, was barred because the UAE imposed travel restrictions on Nigerians under the guise of fighting Covid-19.

However, last month, Nigeria and the UAE ended the spat with aviation minister Hadi Sirika, revealing that the move came in response to the yearnings of Nigerian travellers. He added that the Nigerian government had entered into painstaking negotiations with the UAE after which both sides reached an agreement.

Under the terms of the peace deal, Emirates Airlines will fly 21 weekly passenger flight frequencies to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja and the Murtala Muhammad International Airport, Lagos. In return, the UAE has granted Nigeria’s Air Peace Airline daily slots at the Dubai Airport, in the spirit of reciprocity and the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (Basa) deal between the two nations.

Captain Musa Nuhu, the director-general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), stated that following the lifting of the ban, the UAE-based airline applied to the Federal Ministry of Aviation for approval of its winter flight schedule. He had, however, expressed dissatisfaction that Air Peace Airlines, the only Nigerian airline that operates passenger flights to Sharjah International Airport in the UAE, requested three weekly passenger flight frequencies but was only granted one.

Subsequently, Emirates Airline announced the suspension of its flights to Nigeria, attributing its decision to the NCAA policy limiting its operation in the country to one flight per week. Nigeria currently has signed Basas with over 90 countries including the UAE but over the years, stakeholders have lamented that most air agreements between Nigeria and other countries have been one-sided.