The United Arab Emirates (UAE) flag carrier Emirates flight landed at the Murtala Muhammad International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, on Tuesday, about two years after it stopped operation to Nigeria over diplomatic impasse and non-repatriation on its revenues then.
The flight EK 783 which touched down at the old terminal of the MMIA at exactly 3:32 pm arrived with several empty seats on its Boeing 777-300ER.
The inaugural flight was without water cannon to announce a new flight operation and without other fanfare because inside source told THISDAY the airline decided to step down ceremonies because of the information that there was protest in Nigeria.
With the resumption of operations yesterday, the airline is expected to operate a daily service between Lagos and Dubai, offering customers more choice and connectivity from Nigeria’s largest city to, and through, Dubai.
Last week the federal government and the United Arab Emirates agreed on reciprocal rights, as world mega carrier, Emirates Airlines was set to resume; indicating that Nigerian carrier, Air Peace, which hitherto operated the route can also resume flight operations to the Middle East country.
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, with UAE aviation authorities, agreed on a new Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) between the two countries.
“Crucially, the negotiations also yielded a significant agreement on reciprocal rights, ensuring that Nigerian airlines will soon have the opportunity to commence direct flight operations to the UAE.
This marks a historic development for Nigeria’s aviation industry, expanding international connectivity and offering more options to travelers between the two nations,” the Minister had said.
The Middle East carrier had announced earlier that its service to Nigeria would be operated using a Boeing 777-300ER. EK783 and would depart Dubai at 0945hrs, arriving in Lagos at 1520hrs; the return flight EK784 would leave Lagos at 1730hrs and arrives in Dubai at 0510hrs the next day.
As a major economic hub in Africa, Nigeria and the UAE have built strong bilateral trade relations over the years, headlined by Lagos as the nation’s commercial centre.
With the resumption of daily passenger flights, the airline’s cargo arm, Emirates SkyCargo, will further bolster the trade relationship by offering more than 300 tonnes of bellyhold cargo capacity, in and out of Lagos every week.
The airline had said that Emirates SkyCargo would support Nigerian businesses by exporting their goods via its state-of-the-art hub in Dubai, into key markets such as the UAE, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Bahrain, among others with key anticipated commodities such as Kola Nuts, food and beverages, and urgent courier material.
Emirates SkyCargo will also import vital goods such as pharmaceuticals and electronics as well as general cargo from key markets such as the UAE, India and Hong Kong.
Keeping trade flowing seamlessly, these goods will be transported quickly, efficiently, and reliably via the airline’s multi-vertical specialized product portfolio.
The Emirates Boeing 777-300ER serving Lagos will operate with 8 First Class suites, 42 Business Class seats, and 304 seats in Economy Class. Offering the best experience in the sky, passengers can dine on regionally inspired multi-course menus developed by a team of award-winning chefs complemented by a wide selection of premium beverages.
Customers can tune in to over 6,500 channels of global entertainment, including 23 Nigerian movies, in addition to series and other content on ice, Emirates’ award-winning inflight entertainment system.
Emirates stopped its operations to Nigeria indefinitely on October 29, 2022, and gave reason that it stopped flights to the country because of its trapped funds and over the failure of government to make dollars available to the foreign carriers to repatriate their revenues.
By Chinedu Eze
