Emirates Airlines announced on Thursday that it will resume service to Nigeria on October 1, 2024, operating a daily service between Lagos and Dubai.
The airline, which has its hub in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), announced in a statement on its official X platform that it will operate flight services using a Boeing 777-300ER.
Emirates’ Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer, Adnan Kazim, 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.”
Emirates Airlines suspended its Dubai-Lagos flights in 2022 because it was unable to repatriate trapped funds in Nigeria amid a diplomatic row between the two countries.
Nigeria and the UAE have a long history of restrictions on flights between the two countries due to certain unresolved issues surrounding the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA). Visa restrictions later surfaced as diplomatic fireworks continued between Nigeria and the UAE, which is a top destination for Nigerian migrants and tourists.
In September 2023, President Bola Tinubu met with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi to smooth the rough edges of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, recently said Emirates Airlines has indicated a definite date to resume flight operations to Nigerian airports.
However, the UAE has not yet made an official announcement about its most recent decision to ban visas for Nigerian travelers.
