Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has announced that Emirates Airlines is prepared to resume flight operations to Nigeria.
He said the notice to resume flights on the route came through a letter by the airline sent to him.
Keyamo spoke during an interview on Arise television on Monday.
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Emirates suspended flight operations to Nigeria in November 2022 over its inability to repatriate its revenue from the country.
The Federal Government in September 2023 said the airline would resume services in Nigeria after a meeting between President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Mohamed bin Zayed, President of the United Arab Emirates.
But since that first announcement, Emirates is yet to resume flights operations.
But speaking on the issue during the interview, Keyamo said the first announcement over the proposed resolution between the UAE and Nigeria was hastily done and dismissed claims that it was fake news.
The minister said he had received a letter from the airline confirming that all the issues had been resolved and was ready to resume flights.
“Emirates flight resumption is almost happening. I just received a letter from Emirates. The letter is on my phone now.
“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.”
