FG axes Emirates Airlines from operating into Nigeria
Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika said Nigeria has barred Emirates Airlines from operating into Nigeria. He stated this in a Tweet on his verified twitter handle late Friday night.
He said the ban would take effect on Monday, September 21, 2020. Sources said the Federal Government was piqued by the decisions of UAE not to issue visa to Nigerians and the decision not to renew visa for Nigerians who had applied for renewal.
Emirates Airline’s situation was reviewed and they are consequently included in the list of those not approved, with effect from Monday the 21st Sept. 2020,” he tweeted.
The Minister also said the Sub-Committee of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 met with European Union Country Ambassadors to discuss the ban on Lufthansa, Air France and KLM. “The meeting progressed well,” he tweeted.
Sirika, had last month warned that Nigeria would enforce the principle of reciprocity in granting permission to airlines to resume operations in the country as it opened its airspace.
According to him, the country’s position is informed by the ban placed by some countries on flights from Nigeria, and that Nigeria’s decision was taken in the interest of its citizens.
Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, Etihad Airways, Angolan TAG, Air Namibia and Royal Air Maroc were not approved to operate flights into Nigeria.
He listed British Airways, Ethiopian, AWA, and Middle East Airlines as airlines permitted into the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
He also listed Egyptair, Virgin Atlantic, Turkish Airlines, AWA, Kenya Airways and Middle East Airlines as airlines allowed to operate into the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
Explaining the reasons for the ban and the principle of reciprocity being applied to some countries, Sirika said Nigeria was simply following what each country had done to the country.
He said the country would go ahead and implement the principle of reciprocity to all countries that had banned flights from Nigeria.
Some of the countries, which had banned flights from Nigeria are in the European Union as the EU included Nigeria on the banned countries on the first of July, 2020 when they opened their airspace.
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