Photo: courtesy, LinkedIn
Emirates will resume services to Nigeria from 1 October 2024, operating a daily service between Lagos and Dubai, the airline announced on Thursday.
This is coming over two years after the airline suspended flights to Nigeria over inability to repatriate fund from its ticket sales in Nigeria.
The UAE carrier was being owed over $85 million at the time it was suspending flight.
Authorities in the UAE also followed with a visa ban on Nigerians thereby halting movement between Nigeria and UAE.
Daily Trust reports that the President Bola Tinubu-led federal government had reopened negotiations with the UAE authorities and Emirates Airlines with a view to resolving the pending issues.
And on Thursday, the airline announced resumption of flights promising to offer customers more choice and connectivity from Nigeria’s largest city to, and through, Dubai.
The service will be operated using a Boeing 777-300ER. EK783 will depart Dubai at 0945hrs, arriving in Lagos at 1520hrs; the return flight EK784 will leave Lagos at 1730hrs and arrives in Dubai at 0510hrs the next day.
Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer said, “We are excited to resume our services to Nigeria. The Lagos-Dubai service has traditionally been popular with customers in Nigeria and we hope to reconnect leisure and business travellers to Dubai and onwards to our network of over 140 destinations.
“We thank the Nigerian government for their partnership and support in re-establishing this route and we look forward to welcoming passengers back onboard.”