Similarly, Capt. Okakpu said Emirates flights do not threaten the operations of Air Peace’s flight.

Speaking to Techeconomy’s correspondent, he said: “The truth is, the resumption of Emirates flight into the Nigeria Airspace would not threaten Air Peace airline operation.

However, it will positively affect the Nigeria air cargo business.  This is because a lot of cargo   would come from far the Eastern part of the world into Nigeria, so it would be easier for Emirates Airline to bring those cargoes to Nigeria.

According to him,

“The coming back of Emirates Airlines to the Nigeria space is laudable. Because a lot of Nigeria goes to India, Indian sub-continent and Asia, it will serve as a better connection for them.

Recall that yesterday, Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ deputy president and chief commercial officer disclosed that Emirates will resume daily flights to Nigeria on October 1, 2024.

“The Lagos-Dubai service has traditionally been popular with customers in Nigeria and we hope to reconnect leisure and business travelers to Dubai and onwards to our network of over 140 destinations.”

“We thank the Nigerian government for their partnership and support in re-establishing this route and we look forward to welcoming passengers back on board.”

Accordingly, “with the resumption of operations to Nigeria, Emirates operates to 19 gateways in Africa with 157 flights per week from Dubai, with further reach to an additional 130 regional points in Africa through its code share and interline partnerships with South African Airways, Airlink, Royal Air Maroc, Tunis Air, among others.”

Capt. Okakpu, however noted that Nigerians who shuttle between Nigeria and London, would have a good deal with Nigeria Air Peace Airline, because in just 6 hours they would have gotten to London through Air Peace direct flight, against 9 to 10 hours obtainable elsewhere.

“But to London, it’s definitely not good at all, you don’t want to fly 9-hours going somewhere and fly another 10 hours going another way, for a journey that is like 6 hours. That is why Air Peace is actually competing”.

“Because, they must first take you to their country, before they take you to London. So, a lot of people don’t understand that Turkish Airways, for instance, will take you to Turkey first and most of the time they will mistreat you there for being a Nigerian.

“So, why don’t you just jump into a flight that in six hours you get to your destination. For instance, I heard about a lady who spent 24-Hours, just to catch a flight that was not worth it!!”

“So, if you go to London using Emirates Airlines, it will take you about two days to get there. The truth is the resumption of Emirates Airline back into the Nigeria Airspace would not threaten Air Peace Airline.

However, it will positively affect the Nigeria Cargo business. This is because a lot of cargo   would come in from the Eastern part of the world into Nigeria, so it would be easier for Emirates Airline to bring those cargoes to Nigeria.

“Cargo from Europe, for instance, can take up to three to six days. So, on a cargo side, Nigeria stands to benefit as it [Emirates] will increase the capacity of Cargo coming in.

“Many cargo airlines don’t come to Nigeria any longer, because of the state of the economy. Only Turkish Airlines comes, once in a while. Once upon a time, cargos came into Nigeria four times in a week, but now they hardly come.

The likes of Emirates, Saudi Air Cargo, used to come like three times in a week, but now, they don’t even come at all.

“When you see cargoes being collected at the Airport, most of them go underbelly, and airlines are skeptical about it, because most of the time they carry agricultural products, and once there is contamination on arrival, the goods will be destroyed.

If that is done, the concern airline will bear the cost of destruction, and that is why there are lots of cargoes on British Airways going to London, they are not carrying them because of contamination.

These contamination are caused by Nigerian government agencies especially NDLEA, NAFDAC and others, because of the ways and manners they inspect goods.

“So, the resumption of Emirates Airlines to the Nigeria airspace, will be of immense benefit to the Nigerian Cargo business, it is however not advisable for those travelling through the Air to the Europe

“It will also positively affect   those travelling to places such as: Australia, Japan and the far Eastern part of the world.  “But the question is, if you are travelling to London, would you rather go to the UAE, get a visa and later get a flight? While with Air Peace you can just get your flight and go.

“Because the coming of Air Peace in the Aviation industry has really saved the Nigeria Aviation Industry and shaken it to the foundation.”

Meanwhile, Emirates Airline said upon resumption of its services to Nigeria from 1 October 2024, it will deploy a Boeing 777-300ER.

EK783 will depart Dubai at 0945hrs, arriving in Lagos at 1520hrs; the return flight EK784 will leave Lagos at 1730 hrs and arrives in Dubai at 0510hrs the next day.

Techeconomy gathered from FlightAware that operators are experiencing flight delays and cancelations. As at the time of filling this report, the total flight cancellations for Thursday at Dubai Airport were 32, while total delays were 563.

FlightAware provides accurate real-time, historical and predictive flight insights to all segments of the aviation industry.

In the last three days (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday), there have been about 1,145 flights have been cancelled, according to data from Flightradar24.

Online videos showed the airport’s critical infrastructure being heavily flooded, with residents struggling through floodwater to reach their abandoned cars.

Authorities at the world’s second busiest airport described the situation as historic and unprecedented.

In 2023, the airport recorded approximately 38 million arrivals, 37.805 million departures, and 58.328 million transit passengers, according to Emirates News Agency.

The head of Dubai Airport, Paul Griffiths, said on X (former Twitter) “It remains an incredibly challenging time. In living memory, I don’t think anyone has ever seen conditions like this.”

In response to the severe weather conditions affecting the UAE, President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has directed authorities to conduct a comprehensive review of the country’s infrastructure.

This includes assessing the damage caused by heavy rainfall and providing assistance to affected families.

The president has instructed officials to prioritize the safety and well-being of citizens, including facilitating the transfer of families to safe locations.

Some passengers affected by flight delays and cancellations at the airport called out Emirates on X.

An X user, Amy Clowrey, tagged Emirates and posted on Thursday, “Slightly confused, @emirates. My flight is on time, but check-in and bag drop are closed. So how can I make my flight? I was told all flights were canceled. Why we were not informed via email so we didn’t turn up to the airport, and why does it still say my flight is on time?

Her second post read, “Flight left without me, @emirates. Stood in a bag drop for an hour, then told to go to the check-in desk. There for 2+ hours and realised the flight had left (no email update). Now I have to rebook. Where are your staffs on the ground!? Arrived at 5 a.m. It’s now almost 1 p.m.”

Another user identified as Benz wrote, “Our Emirates connecting flight is from Dubai on the 16th. Our flight is canceled, and our luggage is with the flight. For two days, we didn’t have anything, so we stayed in a hotel. We have a flight today, the 18th. I don’t know where to collect bags, rechecking or not.”

Emirates reacts

Emirates has issued a statement in response to the flight cancellations and disruptions caused by the recent adverse weather and road conditions.

The airline urges customers affected by flight cancellations to reach out to their booking agents, direct message Emirates, or visit emirat.es/support for assistance with rebooking.

Acknowledging the ongoing delays in both arriving and departing flights, Emirates extends its sincerest apologies to impacted customers.

The airline recognizes the challenges faced by travelers and expresses appreciation for their understanding during this difficult time.

Part of the statement posted on X read, “While some customers have been able to return home or reach their destination, we are aware that many are still waiting to get on flights.

“Our teams are working hard to restore our scheduled operations, as well as secure accommodation and other amenities for affected customers at the airport.

“Our primary concern will always be the safety of our customers and crew, and this will never be compromised.”

Check-in reopens for Emirates, flydubai

The airport announced on Thursday the reopening of check-in services for Emirates and flydubai flights operating out of Terminal 3.

In a statement posted on its website, the airport emphasized the need for passengers to only come to Terminal 3 if they have received confirmation from their respective airlines regarding their flight departure.

Part of the statement read,

“There is currently a high volume of guests in the Terminal 3 check-in area. Passengers should only come to Terminal 3 if they have received a confirmation from their airline regarding their flight departure. Please contact your airline for the latest information on your flight status.

“We are working to process guests as quickly as possible and get everyone traveling to their destination.”

Most watched movies on ice in 2023

Customers craving top notch entertainment are spoilt for choice with Emirates ice, offering more than 6,500 channels of on demand movies, TV shows, music, podcasts, and even live TV to catch the international news and sport.

From the expansive 2,000 plus Hollywood and international movies available, and all the best movies of 2023, amongst the most watched movies by Emirates customers around the globe were; visually stunning sci-fi film, Avatar: The Way of Water, Ticket to Paradise – a rom-com starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts, and the enduringly popular action movie Top Gun: Maverick. Long haul customers across the world also settled into box sets of movies, such as The Lord of the Rings complete trilogy and all four of the John Wick films.

After English language content, the top viewed international movies include two Bollywood action movies, Vikram Vedha and Bholaa, the French thriller La Syndicaliste, Korean drama Return to Seoul, and the 2023 Cannes Palme d’Or winner, Anatomie d’une chute from France. Arabic speakers tuned into Emirati film Khorfakkan – depicting the 16th century invasion of the city.

Kids and perhaps kids-at-heart, tuned into a myriad of movies with the most popular choices in 2023 noted as Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Tom & Jerry Cowboy Up! Teen Titans Go! & DC Superhero Girls and The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

Most binged box sets and TV on ice in 2023

On long flights, Emirates customers loved to binge a box set, with exceptionally high viewership recorded for all seasons of HBO Max’s Succession and both seasons of The White Lotus.

Within the comedy genre, Emirates customers showed a preference for beloved sitcoms – Friends, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Big Bang Theory, while in drama – many travellers selected two historical dramas The English, and Women of the Movement, as well as suspense-filled drama Your Honor starring Bryan Cranston.

Trending TV in the Kids and Teens section included Schooled! – a sitcom set in the 90’s and the renowned SpongeBob SquarePants, while younger kids tuned into Australia’s Bluey and Hey Duggee and Supertato from the UK.

On Emirates ice live TV channels including Sport 24, BBC World News, CNN and Sky News Arabia, customers tuned into an array of sports and social events including the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, Formula 1 races, NFL Superbowl, English Premier League, Augusta Masters, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, Rugby World Cup 2023, Wimbledon, DP World Tour and the US Open Tennis. The single most watched sports on Emirates live TV in 2023 was the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.

The tuneful tastes of Emirates customers in 2023

From a library of over 3,000 albums, more than 500 curated playlists, over 40,000 tracks and more than 4,000 hours of music and podcasts – Emirates’ customers showed their sophisticated sides with one of the most popular albums on ice revealed as Mozart’s Chamber Music.

Ed Sheeran’s album Subtract was also in the top three, but unsurprisingly the top spot was scooped by the indomitable Taylor Swift and her album Midnights. Kids couldn’t get enough of ice Juniors Music with Cocomelon, Bluey, Kidzbop, and the Encanto soundtrack holding the top spots.

The most popular playlists onboard Emirates’ flights included the Arijit Singh Playlist, ABBA’s Timeless Pop Anthems and the Best of Fairuz and Khaleeji Classics.

In Global Music, the top trending regions customers accessed were India, Korea and Africa, with the most listened artists places held by Jimin from Korea, Burna Boy from Nigeria and SB19 from the Philippines.

Some audiophiles went for content beyond music and showed love to the Rain, Sleep & Nature Sounds Playlist while relaxing at 40,000 feet.

Emirates customers embrace Happiness & Wellbeing content

Catering to every mood and personality, Emirates ice also provides a dedicated area for Happiness and Wellbeing content which is popular with flyers.

Nature relaxation series’ invite audiences on soothing, majestic journeys to natural paradises, and an array of explorative documentaries discover ways to live life to the fullest.

Emirates customers in 2023 tuned into Living Wild: How to Change Your Life, a series where Sophie Morgan goes on a road trip across the UK to meet people united by a desire to build new lives around the things they love.

Storytelling with Gian Power: What’s your life story? also proved popular, as TLC Lions founder, Gian Power dives into the powerful world of storytelling and advises the audience how their personal story can become their greatest strength.

Finishing 2023 on a high with Emirates ice

For those jetting off for the holiday season and beyond, Emirates is closing out 2023 with the biggest movies of the year on ice. Customers can enjoy the top grossing box office movie of 2023 – the fantasy-comedy blockbuster Barbie, available in French, German, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, Japanese, Russian, Arabic and Chinese. Barbie is also available with ‘Closed Captions’ (CC) and ‘Audio Description’ (AD), offering accessibility to the visually impaired, with narration that describes what is happening on screen. Emirates offers up to 130 movies with AD and more than 250 with CC.

Action aficionados can catch Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, a high stakes thriller partly filmed in the UAE, available on ice in up to 8 languages, or The Equalizer 3 starring Denzel Washington.

Customers can even watch the entire trilogy on ice. Adrenaline enthusiasts will enjoy Gran Turismo, based on the true story of racing driver Jann Mardenborough, a successful gamer who becomes a real-life racer. ice also has an exclusive interview with Jann Mardenborough speaking about the making of the movie in the Emirates World podcast.

Kicking off world class entertainment on ice in 2024

Looking ahead to 2024, Emirates customers can expect to see many exciting developments on ice from exclusive new content partnerships to new next-generation inflight entertainment systems that offer memorable cinematic and personalised passenger experiences on the incoming 50-strong fleet of A350s.

In January, customers can tune into Expend4bles, plus the complete box set of all 4 movies, The Creator – a visually impressive sci-fi from the director of Rogue One and the hit kid’s movie Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie. In February, ice will have Oppenheimer, the award-winning film from Christopher Nolan, Priscilla – Sofia Coppola’s biographical drama about the wife of Elvis Presley, amongst many more additions to the world’s largest entertainment library in the sky.

The new service allows passengers in Business Class to preselect their main course between 14 days and 24 hours in advance of their flight departure, ensuring they get their preferred choice every time as well as helping to reduce food wastage.

The most popular preorder dishes so far are pan-fried beef tenderloin with thyme jus, roasted new potato wedges and steamed asparagus, as well as the grilled beef tenderloin with creamy wild mushroom sauce, Kenya beans and potato gratin, and finally Suffolk roasted chicken with black garlic and potato fondant.

The most popular breakfast dish so far is cheddar cheese and chive omelette with creamy spinach, sauteed Portobello mushroom and roasted herbed tomato.

Ensuring Emirates passengers enjoy a fine dining experience in the sky, passengers are invited to browse the onboard menu on Emirates.com or on the Emirates app to choose from a selection of regionally inspired dishes with locally sourced ingredients, up to a fortnight before a flight.

Business Class meals include a choice of chef crafted dishes such as chocolate hazelnut pancakes with apricot compote and ricotta sour cream for breakfast, Moroccan-style Pacific cod served with coriander pesto, moghrabieh with saffron tomato salsa, broccoli and roasted pumpkin with cardamom for lunch, and pan-fried salmon trout with saffron cream, blanched green beans, braised beetroot and polenta with spring onions for dinner.

Onboard the aircraft, cabin crew will use Apple devices to view the preordered selection and serve the passenger their choice of dish.

Meal preordering is an addition to the existing suite of AI-enabled customer preference tracking data and cabin crew reports onboard Emirates, which facilitate menu planning, optimal food loading and waste minimization.

Digitally enabled journeys and innovation are a core focus at Emirates. The Emirates Inflight Meal Preordering Service is complemented by website check-in and app check-in, the option of digital boarding passes and itinerary management, access to digital inflight menus, easy sign up to Skywards to immediately access free Wi-Fi messaging onboard, and ice inflight entertainment playlist curation in advance of a flight.

The airline is now inviting applications from seasoned commanders to join its Direct Entry Captains programme for its fleet of Airbus A380s.

Emirates has launched a recruitment drive globally. Interested pilots and their families can join an online info session on 4 October at 1pm Dubai time, attend open days in select destinations, and keep an eye out for exciting opportunities here.

The Direct Entry Captains programme is for technically skilled captains with a minimum of 3,000 hours of recent command on Airbus fly-by-wire wide-body aircraft such as the A330, A340, A350, and A380. Candidates are required to have a minimum of 7,000 hours of total flying time on multi-crew, multi-engine aircraft, in addition to meeting other eligibility criteria.

Life at 35,000ft

Emirates’ pilots find flying the airline’s fleet professionally fulfilling, rewarding, and exciting. New joiners will be embraced into a 4,200 strong flight crew community, including 1,515 A380 pilots, who take pride in flying the airline’s overall fleet of 260 aircraft.

The airline’s all wide-body fleet is one of the youngest and most advanced in the world, and includes Emirates’ iconic Airbus A380s and Boeing 777s. Emirates will start receiving its fleet of A350s mid-2024 and 777-9s in 2025.

The airline’s pilots also relish the excitement and adventure of flying one of the most comprehensive global route networks that spans six continents.

They operate everything from regional routes in the Middle East to ultra-long haul destinations and cross-polar flights which make for varied and interesting rosters.

Lifelong training

The airline continues to invest soundly in innovative pilot training, with its current facility housing 10 full-flight simulators.

Emirates’ robust, evidence-based in-house training programmes are delivered by highly experienced instructors and feature specially designed operating environments.

The airline’s latest US$135 million, high-tech pilot training facility is set to open in March 2024. The 63,300sq.ft. facility will increase pilot training capacity by 54% and house 6 more full-flight simulators, including for the A350s and Boeing 777-9s.

Pilots also have access to a range of non-technical training programmes at the Emirates Aviation College and Emirates Aviation University.

Life at Emirates and in Dubai

Emirates’ expat pilot community enjoy living and working in the safe, secure, multicultural city of Dubai with flight deck colleagues from 111 countries and other colleagues from over 160 nationalities. Pilots receive a competitive tax-free salary, spacious accommodation, education allowance, and excellent dental, medical and life cover.

They also enjoy chauffeur-driven transport to and from work, laundry services, 42 days of annual leave, confirmed Business Class annual leave flight tickets, concessional cargo, exceptional discounted travel benefits for friends and family, and much more.

Pilots appreciate the well-defined career paths at Emirates – Captains can go on to become management pilots, recruitment pilots, technical pilots, standards captains, training captains, audit captains, examiners and instructors.

They also enjoy long, fruitful careers as around 40% have been with the airline for 10+ years – 1,380 pilots for 10-19 years, 173 for between 20-29 years, and 5 who have completed 30 years. Fun fact: the two longest serving pilots, with over 34 years of service, joined the airline on the same day in 1989.

In the last five months, the airline has welcomed 172 new pilots on its three recruitment programmes – Direct Entry Captains, Accelerated Command, and First Officers.

Accelerated Command Programme

Designed for Airbus Captains who currently command narrow-body aircraft and have a minimum of 1,500 hours of Airbus fly-by-wire experience.

They join as A380 First Officers on an enhanced salary package. After a minimum of 700 flying hours and two successful recurrent checks, they’re eligible for an accelerated command upgrade, which they typically achieve in a little over a year.

First Officer

Candidates must have multi-engine, multi-crew aircraft experience, a valid International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL), and a minimum of 2,000 hours on 20-tonne maximum take-off weight aircraft.

Interested pilots, who would like to learn more about the various flight deck roles and register for the info session, can click here.

This temporary service will meet market demand during the busy winter season and offer customers more travel choices.

Emirates currently serves London Heathrow with six daily A380 flights. The additional flight will operate on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays and will be served by Emirates’ wide-body Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, fitted in a three-class configuration split between First, Business and Economy classes.

Emirates flight EK41 will depart Dubai at 13:20hrs and arrive at London Heathrow at 17:20hrs, local time. The return flight, EK42, will depart London Heathrow at 20:15hrs and arrive in Dubai at 07:15hrs local time, the following day.

Serving the UK with more than 125 weekly flights

Emirates continues to restore its UK services with the recent resumption of its iconic A380 service to Birmingham and Glasgow, double daily services to Stansted, and enhanced services to Newcastle and London Gatwick.

The airline currently serves the UK with 126 weekly flights including: six times daily A380 service to London Heathrow; three times daily A380 service to Gatwick; twice daily service to Stansted; three times daily A380 service to Manchester; double daily service to Birmingham (including a daily A380 service); daily service to Newcastle; and a daily A380 service to Glasgow.

More than 140 destinations across six continents

Emirates’ extensive network spans over 140 destinations across six continents. The airline offers its customers an unmatched culinary experience in the skies with regionally inspired multi-course menus developed by a team of award-winning chefs complemented by a wide selection of premium beverages.

Customers can sit back and relax with up to 6,500 channels of carefully curated global entertainment content featuring movies, TV shows, music, podcasts, games, audiobooks and more with ice, Emirates’ award-winning inflight entertainment system.

Emirates’ home and hub, Dubai, remains a very popular holiday and stopover destination. Visitors from the UK can take advantage of the Dubai Experience platform that enables customers to easily browse, create and book their own customised itineraries including flights, hotel stay, visits to key attractions, and other dining and leisure experiences in Dubai and the UAE.

TechEconomy reported last week that the Federal Government had released the sum of $265 million to foreign airlines in the country to settle outstanding ticket sales.

“We are pleased to inform you that effective from 11th September 2022, we will reinstate operations of our flights,” Emirates said.

“Inbound flights from Dubai to Lagos (EK783) and outbound flights from Lagos to Dubai (EK784) will recommence from Sunday 11th September 2022.

“Lagos flights after 30th September 2022 will be advised in due course.”

Some airline operators, like Emirates Airlines, have announced the suspension of flights due to some of those challenges. Although, specifically, Emirates cited its inability to repatriate its foreign exchange revenues from Nigeria as the major reason behind its decision.

Emirates had stated two weeks prior that around $85 million of this cash was in Nigeria.

Also, TechEconomy understands that over 20 foreign airlines worth at least $600 million have had their flights to Nigeria barred since the year began.

On Friday, the House of Representatives summoned the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, and the Ministers of Finance and Aviation, Zainab Ahmed and Hadi Sirika, respectively, to a stakeholder meeting to address some of the issues.

The Clerk of the House, Yahaya Danzaria, noted that the stakeholders’ meeting was necessary after briefing the Green Chamber leadership on the alarming notice of withdrawal of services recently issued by some international aircraft operators in the nation.

According to Danzaria, the Speaker has instructed the House Management and Nnoli Nnaji, the chairman of the Committee on Aviation, to immediately schedule a meeting with all parties involved in the aviation industry and the executive branch of government to discuss urgent solutions to the problems at hand.

Other critical stakeholders invited are Special Adviser to the President on Ease of Doing Business, Director General of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), country representative of International Air Transport Association (IATA), Emirate Airline Country Manager, and chairman, Banking and Currency Committee of the House.

The Clerk stated that Speaker requests all parties in the matter, specifically Emirates Airlines to suspend any action and await the outcome of the meeting.

This was revealed on Thursday, August 18, in a statement by the national airline of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which cited its inability to repatriate its foreign exchange revenues from Nigeria.

​​Over 20 foreign airlines worth at least $600 million have had their flights to Nigeria barred since the year began.

Emirates had stated two weeks prior that around $85 million of this cash were in Nigeria.

Emirates has requested Nigeria’s minister of aviation, Hadi Sirika, to help with the repatriation of its $85 million in earnings.

The airline had reduced its 11 weekly frequencies into Lagos Airport to 7 as of Monday, August 15.

The airline said the suspension would “limit further losses and reduce the impact on its operational costs that continue to accumulate in the Nigerian market”.

​Emirates Airlines said in a statement: “Therefore, Emirates has taken the difficult decision to suspend all flights to and from Nigeria, effective September 1, 2022, to limit further losses and impact on our operational costs that continue to accumulate in the market.”

“We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to our customers. However, the circumstances are beyond our control at this stage. We will be working to help impacted customers make alternative travel arrangements wherever possible.

“Should there be any positive developments in the coming days regarding Emirates’ blocked funds in Nigeri​​a, we remain keen to serve Nigeria, and our operations provide much-needed connectivity for Nigerian travelers, providing access to trade and tourism opportunities to Dubai, and to our broader network of over 130 destinations.”

Recall that in November 2021, the Federal Government of Nigeria lifted the ban it placed on Emirates Airline from flying into Nigeria without conditions.

The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, made this known in Abuja in a statement by James Odaudu, Director of Public Affairs in the Ministry of Aviation.

Upon return to Nigeria, Emirates will now operate to Abuja with EK 785 and 786. EK 785 will depart Dubai at 1100hrs, arriving in Abuja at 1540hrs.

The return flight, EK 786 will take off from Abuja at 1900, arriving in Dubai at 0435hrs the next day.

Emirates flight EK 783 to Lagos will depart Dubai at 1030hrs, arriving in Lagos at 1540hrs. The return flight EK 784 will depart Lagos at 1810hrs, arriving in Dubai at 0415hrs the next day. All flights can be booked on emirates.com, with OTAs and via travel agents.

All passengers travelling from Nigeria with Dubai as their final destination require a 48 hour PCR test. Passengers must present a valid negative Covid-19 PCR test certificate with a QR code for a test conducted at an approved facility, and validity must be calculated from the time the sample was collected. Upon arrival in Dubai, passengers will undergo an additional Covid-19 PCR test and remain in self-quarantine until the results of the test are received.

The airline warned that passengers travelling from Nigeria and transiting in Dubai are required to follow the rules and requirements of their final destination.