Emirates Airline has extended Nigeria (Lagos and Abuja) to Dubai flights resumption date from 15 July to 21 July 2021. Emirates confirmed 21 July as the new date in a statement made available to the public.
In the statement, Emirates cited the government directives as a reason for the flight date change. The Airline warned that passengers that have been to or connected through Nigeria in the last 14 days will not be allowed to enter the United Arab Emirates.
In line with government directives, passenger flights to and from Nigeria (Lagos and Abuja) are suspended until 21 July 2021. Customers travelling to and from Lagos and Abuja will not be accepted for travel.
Customers who have been to or connected through Nigeria in the last 14 days are not permitted to board from any other point to the UAE.
Emirates Airline Flights Suspension Timeline
Recall that this is not the first time Emirates Airlines is suspending or changing flights from Nigeria to Dubai resumption date.
Emirates first announced that flights suspension will last until 28 of February 2021. Before that date, Emirates extended the flight ban to 10 March. The Dubai based airline later moved the flight by 10 days when they fixed the new date to be 20 March 2021.
After almost 3 months, Emirates announced that flights from Nigeria to Dubai will resume on 23 June 2021. In less than 48 hours after the announcement, Emirates suspended flights from Nigeria to Dubai until further notice.
After much deliberation, Emirates fixed July 6, 2021, as the new date for Nigeria to Dubai flight. 2 days before July 6, Emirates announced that they have extended the flight date to July 15.
On the 13 of July 2021, Emirates moved the flight’s resumption date from July 15, 2021, to July 21, 2021, citing government directives as a reason for the flight date shift.
Cancelled Flights Option
All passengers affected by this flight cancellation can contact Emirates for further instruction. Passengers that booked through an agent can contact the agent for rebooking or refund.
The director of public affairs of the Federal Ministry of Aviation, James Odaudu, once described Emirates action as a private affair. He said the federal government can’t force Emirates to start flights since Emirates is a private business. The airline can decide to start or not.
He said, “Emirates Airlines is a private business. Whatever decision they take is an economic decision. First and foremost, Nigeria did not ban Emirates. Nigeria only rejected their conditions for Nigerians to fly to the UAE.
“So if on their own they’ve decided to start flying into Nigeria, fine. And if on their own they say they are not ready to resume flights yet, the Nigerian government cannot force them to start operations or cease operations.