• Friday, March 29, 2024
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Emirates restates health, safety priority after Nigeria ban

Emirates excites passengers with premium economy cabin

Emirates has stated that its highest priority continues to be the health and safety of its customers, employees, and the communities it serves in Nigeria.

This comes after the Federal Government announced it will ban the airline from operating into Nigeria from Wednesday.

The federal government on Monday temporarily banned Emirates airline from operating in the country over its continuous refusal to fly passengers without a pre-boarding rapid diagnostic test (RTD’s).

Speaking during its weekly briefing on Monday, the chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 (PTF), Boss Mustapha, said the ban will take effect from midnight on Wednesday, March 17.

Emirate and KLM had in the past few weeks flown passengers into Nigeria but refused to fly passengers out because of its new guidelines introduced as part of measures to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Read Also: Nigeria to ban Emirates operations from Wednesday

However, in a statement by Emirates reacting to the ban, it stated, “Emirates remains in close dialogue with the relevant regulators and authorities in Nigeria and we are fully committed to making progress on a resolution to ensure the continuation and expansion of our operations.

“Our highest priority continues to be the health and safety of our customers, employees, and the communities we serve both in Nigeria and across our network.”

Boss Mustapha had said on Monday, “KLM will resume outbound flights from Lagos on March 15, 2021, without RDTs while a letter has been written to Emirates airlines to suspend flights with effect from midnight Wednesday, March 17, 2021,” he said.

Mustapha, however, said discussions are ongoing to resolve the matter amicably.

“Regarding KLM and Emirate airlines, at the time that we resumed flight, these two airlines made demands that there would be PCR test for passengers within 72 hours of their flight and there will also be antigens rapid test at the airport and also a PCR test on arrival in their countries,” Hadi Sirika, the minister of aviation said at the briefing.