Emirates Extends Travel Ban From Nigeria, South Africa to Dubai

Emirates Airline, the world’s second largest airline by freight tonne kilometers flown, has extended its travel ban on Nigeria and South Africa to the UAE until March 20, the company has announced.

This move was in accordance with fresh government directives that restricted entry from the two African nations in line with Covid-19 precautions.

An earlier enforced restriction, would have seen the ban lifted on Wednesday, March 10, but confirmed covid-19 cases in Nigeria have maintained a upward trajectory, with Monday night announcements from the NCDC reporting 371 new cases and 13 deaths as the country now totals almost 2,000 deaths, the second most in Africa despite testing just 1 percent of its population.

South Africa are the continent’s most afflicted nation, with over 50,000 deaths and over 1.5 million confirmed cases.

However, daily flights to Johannesburg will resume on March 11, via the EK763 but “outbound passenger services on EK764 remain suspended,” said the Emirates website. Flights outbound to Abuja and Lagos will remain operational as per the regular schedule.

The restriction on Nigeria will see inbound flights from Lagos and Abuja to Dubai discontinued for at least the next eleven days.

“Customers from both Abuja and Lagos will not be accepted for travel prior to or including this date. Passengers who have been to or connected through Nigeria in the last 14 days are not allowed entry into the UAE, whether terminating their journey in or connecting through Dubai,” the airline said.

“Emirates flights from Dubai to Lagos and Abuja will continue to operate as per the normal schedule,” it added.

The company however expressed regrets and remorse on the development,

“We regret the inconvenience caused, and affected customers should contact their booking agent or Emirates call centre for rebooking. Emirates remains committed to Nigeria, and we look forward to resuming passenger services to Dubai for our customers when conditions allow.”

Emirates are the world’s fourth largest airline in the world by revenue passenger-kilometers flown, the largest in UAE and the flag carrier of the country.

However they are not the only airline plying the Nigeria-Dubai route, as government-owned budget airline, flydubai who are also operational in Nigeria, have not announced any adjustments or correction to the earlier announced date of March 12, when the restriction was scheduled to be lifted.

The previous announcement on their website still reads thus,

“Passengers are not allowed to enter Dubai if they have visited or transited through Nigeria in the previous 14 days. This does not apply to UAE citizens and outbound passengers travelling to Nigeria.”

“Passengers who in the past 14 days have been in or transited through South Africa are not allowed to enter or transit through the UAE,” it added.