UAE hammers travel ban on Nigeria and other countries Again

By Mobolaji Samuel

In less than 48 hours after it was speculated that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has lifted a travel ban on Nigeria, India and South Africa, but once again UAE has placed a travel ban on west African countries.

The ban takes official effect from Monday, 21st June 2021 until further notice.

An update from emirates.com on Monday stated that, “In line with government directives, passengers’ flights to and from Nigeria (Lagos and Abuja) are suspended with immediate effect from 21 June 2021 until further notice.

“Customers travelling to and from Lagos and Abuja will not be accepted to travel. Customers who have been to or connected through Nigeria in the last 14 days are not permitted to board from any other point to the UAE.

“We regret the inconveniences caused, and affected customers should contact their booking agents or Emirates call centres for rebooking. Emirates remain committed to Nigeria, and we look forward to resuming passenger services when conditions allow.”

It will be recalled that Emirates Airlines had on February 1, 2021, directed that Nigerian travellers at the Lagos and Abuja airports must conduct rapid COVID-19 tests before departure.

Consequently, the Nigerian government also banned Emirates flights into Nigeria.

The ban was, however, lifted after the airline agreed to stop the rapid antigen tests.

On March 25, 2021, the UAE Embassy in Abuja announced new COVID-19 travel protocols for Nigeria as measures to curtail the spread of the coronavirus in the country.

It stated that passengers who had been in or transited through South Africa or Nigeria in the last 14 days before travelling to Dubai were barred from entering Dubai.