Etihad and Emirates Airlines are allowed to restart service between Abu Dhabi and Abuja according to an agreement between Nigeria and the UAE.
Due to diplomatic differences between the two nations, the United Arab Emirates had about a year ago imposed a visa block on travellers from Nigeria.
Following a meeting in Abu Dhabi between UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, an agreement to restore regular relations was made on Monday.
“By this historic agreement, both Etihad Airlines and Emirates Airlines are to immediately resume flight schedules into and out of Nigeria, without any further delay,” stated Chief Ajuri Ngelale, special adviser to Tinubu.
After Emirates Airlines discontinued operations in the most populous nation in Africa in October, alleging an inability to repatriate trapped money because of FOREX issues, the UAE ceased giving visas to Nigerians.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the West African nation has withheld at least $743 million from international airlines flying out of Abuja.
In a meeting with the UAE’s ambassador to Nigeria, Salem Saeed Al-Shamsi, last month, President Tinubu asked for a “immediate” and “amicable” resolution to the diplomatic stalemate.
Tinubu declared that he was ready to personally become involved in the dispute’s resolution.
The Emirati president consented to the “immediate restoration of flight activity” between Abuja and Abu Dhabi using Emirates and Etihad Airlines, according to a Monday announcement from the Nigerian presidency, without “any immediate payment by the Nigerian government.”
Tinubu was praised for ending the diplomatic impasse with the UAE by Festus Keyamo, the Nigerian minister of aviation and aerospace development, who was a member of the delegation that visited Abu Dhabi.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for personally leading our delegation to resolve the UAE dispute. All praise belongs to him. During the conversation, his Midas touch was essential. He simply made my work simpler,” the minister wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).
