Emirates Airlines, a foremost international carrier, has been banned from operating in Nigeria.
The ban was imposed by the Federal Government.
Specifically, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika revealed the ban will take effect from Monday, September 21, 2020. This was disclosed via a tweet posted on his official handle on the micro-blogging site, Twitter.
The tweet reads as follows: “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.”
4wardwego can report that the sanction on Emirates Airlines arose from the principle of reciprocity. The Federal Government had disclosed in August that it would enforce the principle in granting permission to airlines to resume operations. Consequently, the FG had stated that countries which barred flights from Nigeria would also be treated in like manner.
Indeed, following the resumption of international air travel in most countries which had been suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic; a few countries had either restricted flights from Nigeria.
Flights from these countries were also banned by Nigeria. Same principle of reciprocity was applied in the case of countries which were yet to resume international flights
The Federal Government had earlier announced that KLM, Etihad, RwandAir, Air Namibia, Royal Air Maroc, Lufthansa, AirFrance, TAAG Angola Airlines; were not granted approval to commence flight operations in Nigeria. The decision was announced before the resumption of international flights Nigeria.
Also barred were Cabo Verde and South African airlines which were denied approval for flights into Nigeria; mainly on the grounds that international flights were yet to resume in their countries.
Among the airlines that got the FG’s nod to resume flight operations are Air Cote D’ Ivoire and Kenya Airways. Others are EgyptAir, Turkish Airlines, Middle East Airline, British Airways, Delta Air, Qatar Airways, Ethiopian Airlines and Emirates Airlines. This was prior the latest ban slammed on the airline.
Also cleared are Air Peace, Virgin Atlantic, Asky Airlines and Africa World Airways
