The Federal Government has lifted the suspension it had earlier placed on the flight operations of Emirates Airline from Nigeria for violating COVID-19 protocols.
The Director-General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Musa Nuhu, made this known in a letter addressed to the country manager of the airline on Friday evening.
Recall that the federal government through the NCAA had suspended Emirates from flying out of the country for violating the guidelines put in place by the Presidential Task Force on (PTF) on COVID-19.
The NCAA said the airline had been conducting rapid antigen based test for its passengers in a laboratory not approved by the Nigerian authorities.
However, the Nigerian government lifted the suspension placed on the operations of the airline after the United Arab Emirates granted the carrier permission to withdraw the rapid antigen testing done prior to the departure flights from Nigeria.
“Emirates Airlines will be duly informed of ongoing enforcement actions by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority with regards to the established non-compliances to PTF directives and protocols as enumerated in our letter of February 4, 2021,” the letter read.
Also, Emirates airline has therefore communicated its continuation of operations to Dubai from Nigeria.
“Emirates can confirm that we will continue to operate services to Abuja and Lagos. We are strongly committed to Nigeria and would like to thank the local authorities for their trust and support. We look forward to continuing to safely connect our customers, and meet air travel demand from Nigeria to and through Dubai to Emirates’ global network,” the airline said.