Emirates Airlines has announced the reinstatement of its
flight operations to Lagos, starting September 11, 2022.
The airline said this in an email to customers on Wednesday.
The development comes almost a week after the federal
government released the sum of $265 million to foreign airlines in the country
to settle outstanding ticket sales.
“We are pleased to inform you that effective from 11th
September 2022, we will reinstate operations of our flights,” Emirates said.
“Inbound flights from
Dubai to Lagos (EK783) and outbound flights from Lagos to Dubai (EK784) will
recommence from Sunday, 11th September 2022.
“Lagos flights after 30th September, 2022 will be advised in
due course.”
The flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) suspended
flight operations to Nigeria on August 18.
The airline said the decision was due to its inability to
repatriate its earnings in foreign exchange from Nigeria.
The International Air Transportation Association (IATA)
expressed disappointment over the issue, saying that foreign airlines’ funds
trapped in Nigeria had increased from $450 million in May to $464 million in
July.
In its defense, the Nigerian government had consistently
maintained that the country was facing a forex exchange crisis, and could not
meet various obligations, including revenue repatriation by foreign airlines
and dollar requests by citizens and businesses.
But following a torrent of pressure from stakeholders, and
also the blocking of Nigerian travel agents from issuing tickets by British
Airways, the federal government released $265 million to the airlines.
IATA, while welcoming the move, said it would encourage foreign carriers to continue servicing the country.
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