Emirates will resume flights to Nigeria in October after a nearly two-year suspension, during which the airline was in discussions with government authorities to repatriate its outstanding ticket sales revenue that was withheld in the country.
The Dubai-based airline will offer a daily service to Lagos from October 1 using a Boeing 777-300ER and tickets are now available for booking, it said in a statement on Thursday. It suspended flights to the city on October 29, 2022.
"We thank the Nigerian government for their partnership and support in re-establishing this route," said Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ deputy president and chief commercial officer.
"The Lagos-Dubai service has traditionally been popular with customers in Nigeria and we hope to reconnect leisure and business travellers to Dubai and onwards to our network of over 140 destinations."
The biggest foreign airline flying in and out of Nigeria this month is Ethiopian Airlines, with 29,085 seats, followed by Qatar Airways with 27,099 and British Airways with 15,021, according to aviation data provider Cirium.
Emirates in 2022 operated 438 flights to Nigeria before suspending them in October of that year, Cirium said.
In March 2023, Emirates said it was owed a “substantial” amount in ticket revenue by Nigerian authorities, with little progress made in repatriating the blocked payments from Africa's most populous nation. It declined to reveal the amount withheld.
Emirates said at the time it was ready to work with the Nigerian government and the central bank to find a solution to unlock the blocked funds and agree on "firm measures" to prevent future repatriation accumulation.
Billions in blocked payments globally
As of January, the amount of airlines' blocked payments in Africa and the Middle East stood at $1.8 billion, while globally the figure stood at $2.27 billion, according to the International Air Transport Association (Iata).
This leads to depriving the aviation industry of much-needed cash, risking reduced air connectivity and damaging investors' perceptions of these economies, Iata said in June.
Airlines cannot continue to offer services in markets where they are unable to repatriate revenue arising from their commercial activities in these areas, the global airline lobby group said.
Nigeria ranked as the top country worldwide for withholding airlines' revenue, according to Iata data.
Nigeria's airline repatriation issues began in March 2020, when demand for foreign currency in the country outpaced supply and its banks were not able to service currency repatriations.
Nearly 20 routes in Africa
With the resumption of operations to Nigeria, Emirates has 19 routes to Africa, with 157 weekly flights from Dubai. It also offers connections to 130 regional points in Africa through its codeshare and interline partnerships with South African Airways, Airlink, Royal Air Maroc and Tunis Air, among others.
With the resumption of daily passenger flights, the airline’s cargo arm, Emirates SkyCargo, will offer more than 300 tonnes of belly-hold cargo capacity, in and out of Lagos every week.
Emirates SkyCargo will support Nigerian businesses by exporting their goods via its hub in Dubai, into key markets such as the UAE, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Bahrain, with key commodities such as Kola Nuts, food and drink, and urgent courier material, the airline said.
The Emirates Boeing 777-300ER serving Lagos will operate with eight first-class suites, 42 business-class seats and 304 seats in economy.
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How much of your income do you need to save?
The more you save, the sooner you can retire. Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.com, says if you save just 5 per cent of your salary, you can expect to work for another 66 years before you are able to retire without too large a drop in income.
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The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
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- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
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More on animal trafficking
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
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Three-and-a-half stars
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Hotel Data Cloud profile
Date started: June 2016
Founders: Gregor Amon and Kevin Czok
Based: Dubai
Sector: Travel Tech
Size: 10 employees
Funding: $350,000 (Dh1.3 million)
Investors: five angel investors (undisclosed except for Amar Shubar)
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
