November 27, 2021

Nigeria has lifted restrictions on Emirates airline flights, the aviation minister said on Friday amid reported cases of new variant of Covid-19 (Omicron variant) in South Africa.

Recall that in March, Nigeria suspended Emirates from flying into or out of its territory after the carrier imposed additional COVID-19 test requirements on passengers from Nigeria.

Nigeria has reported that a little over 3 million of its over 200 million population are fully vaccinated, a number considered too low by many.

“Today we received communications from Emirates removing some of the conditions for travelling for which we had concerns,” the minister of state for aviation, Hadi Sirika, said on Friday.

“Having done that it is necessary to lift the ban on Emirates. This subsequent lifting of ban is a product of lengthy negotiations between us and them.”

The United Arab Emirates particularly Dubai is a preferred destination for many Nigerians with both jurisdictions enjoying active exchange of trade and investments.