By Dickson Omobola
Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo, has hinted that the United Arab Emirates, UAE, airlines might resume flight operations to Nigeria in June.
Keyamo, who made this known on the Morning Show, an Arise TV programme, said he had received a letter from the Emirates confirming that all issues between it and Nigeria had been resolved.
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 have to 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.”
In October 2022, the UAE banned nationals of about 20 African countries from entering its borders.
Affected countries include Uganda, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Cameroon, Nigeria, Liberia, Burundi, Republic of Guinea, Gambia, Togo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Benin, Ivory Coast, Congo, Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, Comoros, and the Dominican Republic.
In a notice issued to trade partners, including travel agents, Emirati authorities demanded that all applications be rejected.
“Any applications from the above-mentioned countries will be sent back or cancelled,” said the notice. Since the ban, the UAE and Nigeria have been locked in a diplomatic row over issues involving flight allocations and travel restrictions.
