Nigeria bars Emirates Airlines from operating flights into country

Nigeria has barred Emirates Airlines from operating in and out of the country.

Announcing the decision on Twitter, Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, said the ban will take effect from Monday, 21 September 2020.

The tweet read: “The PTF sub-committee met today with EU Ambassadors to discuss Lufthansa, Air France/KLM ban. The meeting progressed well. Emirates Airlines’ situation was reviewed and they are consequently included in the list of those not approved, with effect from Monday, September 21, 2020.”

 

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Before the resumption of international flights in the country, Nigeria had announced that Air France, KLM, Etihad, RwandAir, Air Namibia, Royal Air Maroc, Lufthansa, TAAG Angola Airlines were not granted approval to commence flight operations.

Cabo Verde and South African airlines were also denied approval as international flights had yet to resume in their countries.

Middle East Airline, British Airways, Delta, Qatar, Ethiopian Airlines, Emirates Airlines, Air Peace, Virgin Atlantic, Asky Airlines, Africa World Airways, Air Cote D’ Ivoire, Kenya Airways, EgyptAir, Turkish Airlines were all granted approval to resume operations in Nigeria.

The EU countries and the UAE are currently not issuing entry visas to Nigerians. Analysts say when these countries start allowing Nigerians into their countries, Nigeria would allow their airlines to resume flights in and out of Nigeria.

Nigeria had last month vowed to enforce the principle of reciprocity in granting permission to airlines to resume operations.

Kola Tella

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