Relief as UAE lifts ban on Nigerian flights

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities has lifted restriction placed on flights from Nigeria and 11 other African countries.

The UAE National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) and General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) announced this on Thursday, adding that it would take effect from Saturday.
The ban was initially imposed as part of measures to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
With the lifting, the UAE authorities said flights can resume from countries like Namibia, Congo Republic, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, and Botswana.
Others are Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, the authorities said in a post on Twitter Wednesday.
The UAE had imposed the ban on Nigeria and others in the wake of the outbreak of the Omicron Covid-19 variant.