…says delay due to Emirates discriminatory protocol 

Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, says the Federal Government of Nigeria has resumed talks with the United Arab Emirates on the resolution of the impasse leading to the suspension of flights between the two countries.

He said flights to Dubai were yet to resume because of discriminatory nature of the COVID-19 protocol introduced by Emirates.

He spoke on Monday in Abuja at the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19.

Sirika said the protocol appeared to be targeted at only Nigerians as it was discriminatory and not backed up scientifically.

He said that Dubai was insisting that all passengers intending to visit its country must use Emirates Airline or spend two weeks in the alternative carrier’s country before gaining entrance to Dubai.

He, however, said talks were ongoing to resolve the matter.

The minister said, “Emirate in particular and other airlines including KLM gave us some conditions that were not acceptable to us because they don’t make scientific sense. After review, some of the airlines, especially KLM, saw sense with what Nigeria presented which is that you can do the test 48 to 72 hours before you leave and do another test on arrival.

“Emirates at that time wanted us to do the test 48 hours before boarding and 48 hours is not yet the incubation time yet and they expect us to do a rapid test at the airport and then fly seven hours later and do another test in Dubai and then follow us to our hotel or our accommodation and do another test.

“We accepted what Emirates presented and proceeded even though KLM and other airlines saw our reasons and rationale and towed the lines of Nigeria. In this case, Emirate insisted again that in addition to the test on arrival and other tests, that Nigerians cannot fly to the UAE except through Emirate airlines and that if we choose to do so through other airlines like Ethiopia, Qatar, Turkish or other airlines, we must remain in the country of that airline for two weeks if we are a Nigerian before we continue to Dubai.”

He also said, “If I buy my ticket in a free market which Nigeria and the UAE practices, if I buy a ticket on Ethiopian airline, that means I must remain in Addis Ababa for two weeks whether I have a visa or not before I proceed to Dubai.

“So, they insisted that we must fly by Emirates and majority of Nigerians are petty traders and the ticket of Emirates in this case maybe higher than other airlines. We thought we could take it diplomatically and we have been meeting and exchanging ideas because at some point, they said they are being hard on Nigerians because there are fake results and I said there are fake results in UAE, Germany, UK, USA, all over the world, there are fake results but Nigeria went ahead to put measures in place to detect fake results.

“So, we have gone the extra mile plus if you look at the rate of infection and the rate of people catching COVID-19 in Nigeria, we are far less than many other countries in the world which UAE did not apply that principle upon.

“The total number of deaths in Nigeria may be 3,000; but in one day, 3,000 Italians die or British and they are still allowed to go direct to the UAE. Even Ghanaians, Nigeriens, and other African countries can go to Dubai directly. So the protocol is country-specific and it is not acceptable by the agreement and convention that we signed with the UAE.”

The UAE had in February barred passengers from Nigeria from flying into Dubai due to the government’s refusal to allow the airline to conduct the rapid test for COVID-19. The ban was expected to last for three to four weeks but was extended in March.

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority in retaliation banned Emirates from flying into Nigeria due to non-compliance with COVID-19 protocols as well as the introduction of a rapid antigen test as a requirement for Dubai travellers.