The Nigerian government also responded swiftly by lifting
the ban it previously placed on UAE’s Emirates Airline’s flights into Nigeria.
Emirates stopped flights to Nigeria in February this year,
when its operation was put on-hold by the federal government following its
demand for Nigerian travellers to take the RDT four hours before their flight,
as stipulated in the COVID-19 protocols of the UAE.
When Emirates began its demand for the test, Minister of
Aviation, Hadi Sirika, described the RDT requirement as “discriminatory
profiling” of Nigerian travellers.
A statement seen by THISDAY and dated November 26, 2021,
issued by the Aviation Business Management Team-Dubai Airports, indicated that
RDT would no longer be required for all flights effective from Saturday
November 27, 2021 at 00.0 hours, for passengers travelling to Dubai from the
following countries: the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Republic of Uganda,
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Republic of Zambia.
The statement said inbound passengers, who are eligible to
travel to Dubai from the aforementioned countries, should comply with the
following conditions: “The passenger(s) shall present a valid negative COVID-19
test certificate that is issued within the valid time frame, namely, (72) hours
from the time of collecting the sample and from the approved health service
that uses QR code system.
“Passenger(s) shall undergo a PCR (Reverse Transcription
Polymerase Chain Reaction) upon arrival at Dubai Airports.
“No approval is required from the Federal Authority for
Identity and Citizenship (ICA) or from General Directorate of Residency and
Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) for the passengers from the aforesaid countries, to
enter Dubai. No rapid PCR test report is required.
“The airlines shall ensure and/or verify the compliance of
the above requirement(s) prior to passenger(s) boarding the aircraft and shall
not accept any passenger(s) who does not fulfill the aforesaid condition(s)
and/or requirements,” the statement said.
It also directed that if the airline carries any
passenger(s) who fails to meet the aforesaid requirements, the airline would be
held responsible to return such passenger to the point of embarkation and also
any other matters that may arise therefrom.
It stated that air carriers that fail and or neglect to
comply with the measures set out in this decision would be subjected to the
fines and measures stipulated in Clause 37 of Schedule No (7) the Executive
Council Resolution No. (4) of the 2017 Approving Fees and Fines of the Dubai Civil
Aviation Authority (DCAA), considering that adherence to the provision of DCAA
circular No. (1) of 2021, is strictly required for airlines to continue
practicing air transport activity arriving to or transiting through Dubai.
The statement also said that these conditions are imposed in
addition to the guidelines, protocols and conditions issued from time to time.
With this new protocol, UAE has dropped the RDT test, which
stirred the diplomatic imbroglio between Nigeria and the country and which forced
Emirates Airlines to stop operating to Nigeria when the federal government
insisted that it must not conduct RDT on Nigerian passengers four hours before
their flight, insisting that the 72 hours PCR test must be accepted by the
airline.
So since February 2021, Emirates has stopped flights from
Nigeria but with the new protocol, Nigerian passengers can now travel directly
to Dubai.
In February, Emirates directed Nigerian travellers at the
Lagos and Abuja airports to conduct rapid COVID-19 tests before departure,
which led to a ban on Emirates flights in Nigeria. The ban was later lifted
after the airline agreed to stop the rapid antigen tests.
The federal government reintroduced the ban in March,
explaining that Emirates had continued to conduct rapid antigen tests for
passengers before departure from Nigeria.
FG Lifts Suspension on Emirates Airline
The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika said the ban on
Emirates was lifted as a result of communications received from UAE removing
travel conditions the Nigerian government had opposed.
Briefing journalists late evening yesterday, Sirika said UAE
had removed the restrictions without conditions, hence Nigeria reciprocated the
gesture by lifting the ban on Emirates.
The Minister assured that the relationship between Nigeria
and UAE remained strong.
Similarly, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyema,
noted that the Nigerian government recognised that the UAE “has a
responsibility” to protect the lives of her citizens and “whatever measures
that they had taken were in the interest of her citizens.”
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