The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority announced earlier on
Friday that it was restricting Emirates to just one weekly flight from 21 that
had been initially approved.
The authority said this was in retaliation for the United
Arab Emirates declining an application by local carrier Air Peace to fly to
Sharjah International Airport three times a week. UAE gave the airline one
weekly slot, citing the lack of available arrival slots at the airport.
“With the recently imposed directive limiting Emirates to
operate one flight per week to Nigeria via Abuja, Emirates will be suspending
its flights between Nigeria and Dubai from 13 December 2021, until the UAE and
Nigerian authorities work on a solution to the ongoing issue," Emirates
said in a statement.
In March, Nigeria suspended Emirates from flying into or out
of its territory after the carrier imposed additional COVID-19 test
requirements on passengers from Nigeria but had lifted the restriction last
month.
Nigeria is Africa's most populous country with a huge diaspora
that frequently travels back home and some carriers like British Airways have
daily flights to the country.