THE Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, said Emirates Airline had officially written to the Nigerian government to resume flight operations into the country before June 2024.
Keyamo disclosed this on Arise TV’s “The Morning Show” on Monday, April 8, noting that he had received a letter from the airline on the planned resumption.
He, however, said that the first announcement in October 2023 over the proposed resolution of the face-off between both nations was not fake news but was ‘hasty’.
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“Emirates flight resumption is almost happening. I just received a letter from Emirates. The letter is on my phone now. 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.”
“I am announcing to Nigerians for the first time; that I just received a letter from Emirates now. The letter is with me. I have a hard copy thanking you for all the efforts we made. Mr. President was the showman here. He was the one who pushed for it,” Keyamo said.
He lauded the diplomatic steps taken by President Bola Tinubu, which he said facilitated the airline’s planned flight operations and made his job as a minister much easier.
“That was why I said the last announcement was hasty and not fake news. They will announce the date for their next flight. We have received a letter confirming that all the issues have been resolved and are prepared to start coming back. It may be before June.”
In 2020, Emirates suspended flight operations to Nigeria — for the second time in the year – over its inability to repatriate its revenue trapped in the country.
Similarly, the airline has suspended all flights from Nigeria effective September 1, 2022, due to what it called the challenges in repatriating its funds.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) earlier confirmed the clearance of verified backlog owed foreign airlines, which totalled $136.73 million.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.