The Nigerian federal government says it has lifted restrictions on Emirates flights, ten months after the diplomatic discussions around COVID-19 travel requirements on Nigerian passengers.
Dubai, in its latest Coronavirus protocol released yesterday, dropped the Rapid Antigen Test (RDT) for COVID-19 as prerequisite for travelling to the Middle East country for Nigerians and some other countries.
The new Development stated that the 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 Nigerian government also responded swiftly by lifting the ban it previously placed on UAE’s Emirates Airline’s flights into Nigeria.
Dubai authorities had previously mandated a COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test (RDT) for travellers visiting Dubai from Nigeria and some other countries. The test was to be taken four hours before departure.
Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation, said this on Friday.
“Today, we received communications from Emirates removing some of the conditions for travelling for which we had concerns,” he said.
“Having done that, it is necessary to lift the ban on Emirates. ” This subsequent lifting of the ban is a product of lengthy negotiations between us and them.”
Direct flights between both countries were suspended in March over issues relating to COVID-19 test requirements. 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.
However, in a twist in the month of March, the Nigerian federal government reintroduced the ban, as the country saw, Emirates had continued to conduct Rapid Antigen Test (RDT) for passengers before departure from Nigeria.
The aviation regulator, NCAA had said the moves by Emirates violated the country’s COVID-19 test protocols , minister of aviation, described it as “discriminatory profiling” of Nigerian travellers.
The statement said inbound passengers, who are eligible to travel to Dubai 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.
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