Air Peace will suspend its flight operations to Dubai from November 22, 2022, due to the non-issuance of entry visas to Nigerians.
“This is consequent upon the persisting non-issuance of visas to Nigerian travelers by the government of the United Arab Emirates and the accompanying inconveniences,” the airline’s management said in a statement.
The airline also highlighted that it had been operating in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) “even with the country’s recent travel restriction”.
However, in addition to the restrictions, the airline explained that due to “the heightening hurdles Nigerian travelers are facing in accessing the country,” it has “become imperative” that Air Peace halt its operations to the UAE.
The airline did not indicate when it expects to resume services to the UAE.
Emirates suspends Nigeria flights over trapped ticket revenues
The decision comes just weeks after Emirates suspended flight operations to its routes in Nigeria once again following difficulties in repatriating ticket revenues from the country.
Emirates suspended operations to Nigeria twice in the space of three months, initiating the first suspension in August 2022, over the issue of ticket funds being stuck in Nigeria. The airline reinstated flights in September 2022 after the Nigerian government agreed to release some funds.
During the second suspension the Gulf carrier said that the suspension of its operations to Nigeria, which took effect from October 29, 2022, was designed to protect it from “further losses moving forward”.
During a meeting with aviation representatives on October 24, 2022, in which the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had announced that an amount of $120 million would be released on October 31, 2022, a representative from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) had told the meeting that $700 million of ticket revenues owed to airlines was still trapped in the country.