The crisis between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Nigeria on Monday took a new dimension as the Arab country reportedly barred Nigerians from entering into the UAE.
Many Nigerians were turned away from airports because UAE had instructed airlines not to bring Nigerians into their country.
Nigerians travelling to the UAE have been using alternative routes and airlines since the crises between Nigeria and Emirates started in March.
It was gathered on Monday that many Nigerian passengers who boarded Ethiopian Airlines heading for Dubai were sent off the plane hours after the restrictions imposed on Emirates by the Federal Government took effect.
The Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) had withdrawn the winter schedule earlier approved for Emirates to operate 21 weekly flights to Nigeria, and the airline was restricted to operate one weekly flight to the FCT, Abuja.
As a result of the development, Emirates airline has suspended all its flights to Nigeria pending the resolution of the issues between Nigeria and the UAE governments. But the situation became worsened on Monday after Dubai-bound passengers using other airlines were reportedly barred by the UAE authorities.
According to the reports, the UAE authorities had ordered airlines not to board any Nigerian passenger. A source close to the Ethiopian airline confirmed that: “UAE says no entry for Nigerian passengers from any airline. Ethiopian just offloaded all passengers heading to Dubai. We are voiding Dubai bound tickets.”
It was gathered that the restriction imposed on Emirates by the federal government is a tit-for-tat measure after the Sharjah Airport Authorities reportedly denied Air Peace the three slots it requested.
FG says it will only allow Emirates airlines to operate its full capacity flights to Nigeria by granting Air Peace the three slots it was operating to the UAE.
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