President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime, through the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), has again restricted the flight operations of Emirates airlines days after granting it approval.
This was contained in a letter marked NCAA/DG/AIR/11/16/329, dated December 9, 2021, and signed by Musa S. Nuhu, the agency’s director-general.
“I wish to inform you of the withdrawal of the approval granted to Emirates airlines winter schedule. The withdrawal becomes effective on Sunday, December 12, 2021, at 2300hrs,” the NCAA told Emirates.
It added, “Please kindly note, henceforth, Emirates airlines is granted approval to operate only one weekly passenger frequency to Abuja on Thursdays.”
The NCAA early this year suspended the UAE-owned airline for demanding a four-hour-old COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test (RDT) from Nigerians who intended to visit Dubai.
Describing the rule as “discriminatory profiling”, aviation minister Hadi Sirika said the 72-hour PCR test should suffice.
On November 26, Mr Sirika lifted the suspension, granting Emirates approval to resume all flights in and out of the country.
