Dubai: Emirates airline has announced that flights from South Africa and Nigeria will remain suspended till March 20, according to government directives that restrict the entry of travelers from these two nations in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. The entry restrictions for passengers originating from or transiting through both these nations were earlier in force till March 10.
After the announcement of the extension of the restriction for passenger services from South Africa, Emirates mentioned everyday passenger flights to Johannesburg will resume from March 11 and will operate as EK763. “However, outbound passenger services on EK764 stay suspended,” the Emirates website stated.
In line with government directives, the airline mentioned passenger services from Nigeria’s Lagos and Abuja to Dubai are also temporarily suspended till March 20.
“Customers from both Abuja and Lagos will not be accepted for travel prior to or including this date. Passengers who have been to or connected through Nigeria in the final 14 days will not be allowed entry into the UAE, whether terminating their journey in or connecting through Dubai,” the airline mentioned.
“Emirates flights from Dubai to Lagos and Abuja will continue to operate as per the normal schedule,” it added.
Expressing regret for the inconvenience caused, the airline mentioned affected customers should contact their booking agents or Emirates call centers for rebooking.
Meanwhile, flydubai is yet to make an announcement about an extension of the restrictions for its flights from Nigeria. All direct and indirect flights from Nigeria are suspended till March 12, as per the previous announcement on the airline’s website.
“Passengers are not allowed to enter Dubai if they’ve visited or transited through Nigeria in the previous 14 days. This does not apply to UAE citizens and outbound passengers traveling to Nigeria,” stated flydubai. “Passengers who in the past 14 days have been in or transited through South Africa are not allowed to enter or transit through the UAE,” it added.
Meanwhile, Emirates also confirmed to Gulf News that the operation of only one service to Mauritius was impacted after the Indian Ocean island nation closed its borders for a week from Sunday.
A spokesperson stated that Emirates was to operate only one flight within the time-frame of the flight suspension. “And it is only a one-way passenger outbound flight. So, the disruption has been very little.”
Both Etihad and flydubai confirmed that they did not operate flights to Mauritius.
