The Federal Government has given further reasons the United Arab Emirates (UAE) banned flights from Nigeria to Dubai.
The Minister of aviation, Hadi Sirika made this on Monday while briefing the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 in Abuja.
Sirika accused the UAE of discriminatory protocols, adding that Emirates and other airlines, including KLM, gave conditions unacceptable to Nigeria.
He explained that UAE insisted that Nigerians intending to visit its country must use Emirates or spend two weeks in the alternative carrier’s country before entering Dubai.
He, however, said that talks were ongoing to resolve the matter.
“Emirates wanted us to do the test 48 hours before boarding, and 48 hours is not yet the incubation time.
“They expect us to do a rapid test at the airport, fly seven hours later and then follow us to our hotel or our accommodation and do another test when we arrive Dubai.
“The protocol, unscientific, appeared targeted at only Nigerians.
“They also insisted that in addition to the test on arrival and other tests, that Nigerians cannot fly to UAE except through Emirates airlines. However, they made it clear that if we choose to do so through other airlines we must remain in the country of that airline for two weeks if we are Nigerians before we can enter Dubai.
“What this means is that if Nigerians buy ticket on Ethiopian airline, they must remain in Addis Ababa for two weeks, whether they have a visa or not, before proceeding to Dubai.
“We honestly think Its too much considering the fact that majority of Nigerians are petty traders, and the ticket of Emirates, in this case, maybe higher than other airlines,” he said.
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