Emirates Airlines has restarted daily passenger flights to Nigeria, connecting Dubai and Lagos cities.
The first Dubai-Lagos flight was conducted on October 1, 2024, following a two-year suspension. Emirates halted it flights to Nigeria on October 29, 2022, due to trapped funds and the government’s inability to provide dollars for foreign carriers to take as their profits.
“This has been a long-awaited moment, and we are excited to resume operations to Lagos, helping reconnect travelers seamlessly to and through Dubai,” Adnan Kazim, Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer of Emirates Airlines, said in a press release published on October 3, 2024.
The new daily flight from Dubai to Lagos, EK783, is scheduled to leave Dubai at 09:45 local time and reach Lagos at 15:20 local time. The return flight, EK784, departs Lagos at 17:30 local time and arrives back in Dubai at 05:10 local time the following day. The new route is operated by Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.
Dubai-Lagos service has been scheduled to optimize connections to and from key locations in Europe, the US, Far East and the wider Middle East, making it easier to travel to and from Nigeria. Emirates will also help travelers from Nigeria with 48-hour and 96-hour Dubai visa applications.
“We are pleased to welcome Emirates back to Nigeria,” Festus Keyamo, Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development of Nigeria, said. “Emirates has become a global brand and Nigeria, being the most populous black nation in the world, is the sure destination for all major airlines in the world.”
Additionally, Emirates SkyCargo, the air freight division of Emirates, will assist Nigerian businesses by providing over 300 tons of cargo space in and out of Lagos every week. The cargo will be sent to the markets in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Bahrain.
Nigeria is expected to receive imports from markets such as UAE, India and Hong Kong, featuring a variety of items such as general cargo, medicine and electronics.
