Nigeria and United Arabs Emirates diplomatic row. A Neusroom explainer
You may have seen reports in the media about the suspension of flights to Nigeria by Emirates, the flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates, over the reduction of the airline’s flight frequency to Nigeria.
The UAE has been a leading business and tourism destination for many Nigerians for many decades . In February 2020, the UAE Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr Fahad Al Taffaq, put the volume of non-oil trade between the two countries at $1.5 billion and said “the number of Nigerians that visit the UAE annually, especially Dubai, is around 100,000.”
Some tourism experts say it is more than that.
How did we get here? Here’s a breakdown.
It started in February 2021 when the Nigerian government suspended Emirates’ outbound flights for 72 hours, effective from February 4, for introducing pre-departure Rapid Antigen Test (RDT) for passengers travelling to Dubai. This is in addition to the PCR test done 72 hours from departure time approved by the Nigerian government.
“The Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 (PTF) upon review of the situation directed the NCAA to inform the airline to either suspend the requirement for pre-departure RDT or their flights to the country,” a statement by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said.
The PTF directed that “Emirates should suspend its operations to Nigeria (Lagos and Abuja) effective 72 hours from midnight on Thursday, February 4, 2021. During the 72-hour leeway, Emirates is only authorised to bring in passengers into Nigeria while outbound passengers are not allowed.”
The ban lasted only for 48 hours; it was lifted on February 6 after the airline agreed to stop RDT.
On February 11, Emirates, in compliance with the directive of the UAE government, suspended flights from Nigeria for two weeks.
“In line with government directives, passenger services from Nigeria (Lagos and Abuja) to Dubai are temporarily suspended until February 28, 2021,” Emirates said in a statement.
When the two weeks elapsed, the suspension was extended. On March 9, the airline announced it would resume flights from Lagos and Abuja to Dubai on March 20.
On March 15, the Nigerian government announced the suspension of inbound and outbound flights by Emirates effective Wednesday, March 17, for conducting rapid antigen tests for passengers before leaving Nigeria.
It was the second time in 2021 that the airline would be suspended.
On June 19, the Dubai Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management released a new protocol directing travellers from Nigeria to undergo COVID-19 tests upon arrival at the airport in UAE. This was part of measures to ease inbound travel restrictions.
Two days later, Nigeria suspended Emirates’ inbound and outbound flights for the third time in 2021.
In June, the ban became indefinite as direct flight operations between the two countries ceased.
After 10 months of diplomatic row over COVID-19 protocol, Nigeria announced Saturday, November 27, 2021, the lifting of the flight ban on Emirates Airlines.
The decision to remove the ban came after talks between the two countries’ governments, Nigerian Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika said in a statement.
He said the ban was unconditional, and the reversal would be effective November 27.
Following the restoration of flights between Nigeria and the UAE, Nigerian carrier Air Peace also announced the resumption of flights to UAE through Sharjah with effect from December 1.
Sharjah is the third largest of the seven emirates that make up the UAE. It is about 30km away from Dubai.
Less than two weeks after Emirates resumed Lagos and Abuja flights, the airline announced on December 10 that it is suspending all flights to Nigeria again.
Why?
The UAE government said the NCAA has limited Emirates’ flights to once weekly from 21, describing the decision as unjustifiable.
How did that happen?
The Nigerian government slashed the airline’s 21 weekly services to just one after Air Peace was awarded just a once-weekly slot out of three it requested to fly to Sharjah Airport.
“The Nigerian Government was gracious to grant Emirates Airlines 21 frequencies it requested for…However, Air Peace only requested for three weekly flights to Sharjah, not even Dubai airport, but the GCAA refused the airline. It only approved one weekly frequency to the airline. The only excuse they gave was that they don’t have enough slots. Where is the justice in this? That is the capital flight out of Nigeria. Nigeria should protect its own,” Captain Musa Nuhu, the Director-General of NCAA, said in a statement.
Barely three days after announcing the suspension of flight operations from Nigeria, a letter addressed to the CEO of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, emerged on the internet informing the airline that the UAE government has reviewed its request and granted seven slots to the Nigerian airline to fly to Dubai.
But Air Peace spokesperson Stanley Oliseh told Neusroom on Wednesday, December 15, that he could not give details on the letter because Air Peace is yet to receive it officially.
He added that the issue is between the Nigerian government and UAE, “if the UAE government is going to write a letter, it should go through the proper diplomatic channels. We’ve not been the one exchanging letters with the UAE government; it’s been the Nigerian government through the Ministry of aviation.”
