The United Arab Emirates, UAE has extended its ban on international flights from Nigeria until March 20, as part measures to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country, it said.
The announcement which was contained in a statement issued by the Public Relations Firm for Emirates Airlines on behalf of the UAE, explained that customers from both Abuja and Lagos would not be accepted for travel within the said date.
“In line with government directives, passenger services from Nigeria (Lagos and Abuja) to Dubai are temporarily suspended until 20 March 2021.
“Customers from both Abuja and Lagos will not be accepted for travel prior to or including this date. Passengers who have been to or connected through Nigeria in the last 14 days are not allowed entry into the UAE (whether terminating in or connecting through Dubai),” the statement said.
While noting that Emirates flights from Dubai to Lagos and Abuja will continue as scheduled, the statement, however, restated the commitment of UAE to resume passenger services to Dubai when conditions get better.
It would be recalled that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, had in February, barred Emirates Airlines from Nigeria, after it failed to comply with Covid-19 protocols and for introducing of Rapid Antigen test as a requirement for Dubai travellers, against the federal government’s negative PCR requirements.