The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has announced that Emirates Airline will resume operations in Nigeria on or before June 2024, News About Nigeria reports.
Keyamo made this revelation during an appearance on Arise Television on Monday, where he disclosed that the airline is set to announce the date for its first flight back to Nigeria.
He attributed the resolution of issues between the Nigerian government and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the role played by President Bola Tinubu in resolving the dispute between the two countries.
The minister revealed that Emirates Airlines had sent a letter confirming its readiness to resume flight operations in Nigeria.
He stated, “Emirates flight resumption is almost happening. I just received a letter from Emirates. The letter is on my phone now. They have gone through all the gamut, and they are ready to come back. They will announce the date because to restart a route, they have to get an aircraft for that route.”
Keyamo recalled his previous announcement in November 2023, after the Dubai Airshow, where he disclosed discussions with Emirates Airlines representatives regarding a possible resumption.
He said that the airline was working on the final details and would soon announce the exact date of their flight resumption.
Expressing appreciation for President Bola Tinubu’s efforts, Keyamo stated, “Mr. President was the showman here. He was the one who pushed for it. He made my job easy because he went there and had a diplomatic shuttle to resolve all the issues.”
Emirates Airline suspended its flight operations to Nigeria in October 2022 due to challenges in repatriating funds held in the country, citing the inability to access the $85 billion in revenue trapped in Nigeria.
