Emirates ready to resume flight operations to Nigeria, says Keyamo

Emirates ready to resume flight operations to Nigeria, says Keyamo

 Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace
development, says Emirates Airlines is prepared to resume flight operations to
Nigeria.

 

Keyamo spoke during an interview on Arise television on
Monday.

 

Emirates, had in November 2022, suspended flight operations
to Nigeria over its inability to repatriate its revenue from the country.

 

The federal government had, in September 2023, said the
airline would resume services in Nigeria — signalling a resolution of the
dispute.

 

The assurance followed a meeting between President Bola
Ahmed Tinubu and Mohamed bin Zayed, president of the United Arab Emirates.

 

But since the meeting and federal government’s announcement,
Emirates is yet to begin scheduled flights operations.

 

Speaking on the issue during the interview, Keyamo said the
first announcement over the proposed resolution between the United Arab
Emirates (UAE) and Nigeria was hastily done — dismissing claims that it was
fake news.

 

The minister said he has received a letter from the airline
confirming that all the issues have been resolved and is prepared to resume
flights.

 

“Emirates flight resumption is almost happening. I just
received a letter from Emirates. The letter is on my phone now,” he said.

 

“They have gone through all the gamut and they are ready to
come back. They will announce the date because to restart a route, they have to
get an aircraft for that route.

 

“I am announcing to Nigerians for the first time; that I
just received a letter from Emirates now. The letter is with me. I have a hard
copy thanking you for all the efforts we made.

 

 “Mr. President was
the showman here. He was the one who pushed for it. He made my job easy because
he went there, and had a diplomatic shuttle to resolve all the issues. That was
why I said the last announcement was hasty and not fake news.

 

“They will announce the date for their next flight. We have
received a letter confirming that all the issues have been resolved and
prepared to start coming back. It may be before June.”

 

Speaking on the repatriation of funds, Keyamo noted that
there were two sets of funds that were trapped.

 

He said 100 percent of the funds trapped by the Central Bank
of Nigeria (CBN) have been cleared.

 

 “The two sets of
funds that were trapped. Some people got it confused when they said it was fake
news,” the minister said.

 

“They said they have cleared it, others said they have not
been cleared. They were the funds that were trapped by the CBN.

 

 “That’s the ones they
called the forward sales that they had bidded for but the CBN could not meet
its obligation.

 

“CBN accepted the bid but they couldn’t provide the funds
for it. It amounted to about $160 million. That is the government’s own
obligation. We have cleared it.

 

 “The other ones are
for the commercial banks. When they sell their tickets, their funds are trapped
in commercial banks, the commercial bank cannot raise the FX to fund and
transfer to them.

 

“That is not government responsibility but the commercial
banks to do something to raise those funds and transfer those funds.

 

 “That is where the
confusion came in but government own responsibility regarding the central bank,
they have cleared 100% of all the trapped funds.”

 

Meanwhile, Air Peace, Nigeria’s flag carrier, recently began
direct flights from Lagos to London, development that since elicited
commendations.

Source: Emirates ready to resume flight operations to Nigeria, says Keyamo

 - NigerianEye
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