The Federal Government has banned Emirates Airlines from operating in Nigeria in adherence to its principle of reciprocity in granting permission to airlines to resume flight operations.
The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika disclosed the ban will commence on Monday, September 21, 2020.
Sirika in a tweet on his official Twitter handle tweeted, “The PTF sub-committee met today with EU Ambassadors to discuss Lufthansa, Air France/KLM ban. The meeting progressed well. Emirates Airlines’ situation was reviewed and they are consequently included in the list of those not approved, with effect from Monday, September 21, 2020.”
The ban is in line with the federal government’s commitment to reciprocating flight restrictions.
Recall that the Federal Government had prior to resumption of international flights in Nigeria, announced that Air France, KLM, Etihad, RwandAir, Air Namibia, Royal Air Maroc, Lufthansa, TAAG Angola Airlines were not granted approval to commence flight operations in the country.
Also included in the ban were Cabo Verde and South African airlines as international flights had yet to resume in their countries.
According to Sirika, the country would fully implement the principle of reciprocity to all countries that had banned flights from Nigeria.