Emirates Airline has been included in the list of those whose operations are banned in Nigeria.
The ban on Emirates Airline which was announced by the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, on Friday takes effect from Monday, September 21, 2020.
The tweet by the minister reads: “The PTF sub-committee met today with EU Ambassadors to discuss Lufthansa, Air France/KLM ban. The meeting progressed well. Emirates Airlines’ situation was reviewed and they are consequently included in the list of those not approved, with effect from Monday, September 21, 2020.”
It would be recalled that the Federal Government had earlier in the month banned Air France, Lufthansa, Ethihad airlines, Air Rwanda, Air Namibia, among others from coming into Nigeria as international flights resume on Saturday, September 5, 2020.
Sirika, who made the announcement during the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force, PTF, on COVID-19 gave an insight into the reasons for the ban and the principle of reciprocity being applied to some countries.
According to him, Nigeria was simply following what each country had done to it.
While warning against sharp practices, he said any airline caught with passengers without COVID-19 negative result would be fined $3500 for each passenger and the passenger returned if he or she was a foreigner.
He explained the principle of reprocity to mean that all countries that had banned flights from Nigeria, woul also have planes from their countries banned from entry into Nigeria.
