By Lucy Adautin
Emirates Airlines has resumed its flights to Nigeria, marking the return with Flight EK 783 from the United Arab Emirates. The flight landed at Murtala Muhammad International Airport (MMIA) at precisely 3:32 pm on Tuesday, October 1, 2024, after being grounded since 2022.
Heritage Times HT reports that the airline’s comeback follows a previous announcement to restart operations, ending a two-year suspension due to issues surrounding funds trapped in Nigeria.
News of the UAE’s flagship carrier resuming flights to Nigeria quickly spread across social media, with photos and videos capturing the moment the plane landed on Nigerian soil.
On Wednesday, Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, confirmed the airline’s return through his X (formerly Twitter) account.
He mentioned that he, along with senior Emirates executives and representatives from the UAE, had boarded an Emirates flight that morning after spending several days in the UAE. Their discussions focused on securing reciprocal flight rights for Nigerian airlines in the UAE, along with other related matters.
“Earlier this morning in Dubai, together with Executives of Emirates Airlines and top representatives from the office of the Vice-President of the UAE, we all boarded the Emirates flight to Lagos,” the Minister’s post read in part.
Keyamo further stated that a brief ceremony will be held in Lagos, involving officials from both governments, to celebrate the return of Emirates Airlines to Nigeria’s aviation sector. The event will also mark the reintroduction of Nigerian flag carriers to the UAE.
Emirates Airlines had suspended its flights to Nigeria in October 2022 due to challenges in repatriating trapped funds, despite earlier assurances from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to address the foreign exchange issue.
Heritage Times HT reports that a year later, during a diplomatic visit to the UAE in October 2023, President Bola Tinubu secured an agreement with the UAE President to lift the visa ban on Nigerians and resume flights between both countries.
In May 2024, Emirates Airlines confirmed plans to resume operations to Nigeria on October 1, 2024, as stated by Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer. Recently, Nigeria’s Aviation Minister, Festus Keyamo, announced that the country secured reciprocal flight rights for Nigerian airlines to operate in the UAE.
This came after a meeting in the UAE, where Keyamo and his team finalized a new Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) to govern the aviation partnership between both countries.
