Dubai: Emirates airline has announced that flights from South Africa and Nigeria will remain suspended until March 20, in line with government directives that restrict the entry of travellers from these two countries in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. The entry restrictions for passengers originating from or transiting through both these countries were earlier in force till March 10.
After the announcement of the extension of the restriction for passenger services from South Africa, Emirates said daily passenger flights to Johannesburg will resume from March 11 and will operate as EK763. “However, outbound passenger services on EK764 remain suspended,” the Emirates website stated.
Entry restrictions from Nigeria
In line with government directives, the airline said passenger services from Nigeria’s Lagos and Abuja to Dubai are also temporarily suspended until 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 last 14 days are not allowed entry into the UAE, whether terminating their journey in or connecting through Dubai,” the airline said.
“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 said affected customers should contact their booking agents or Emirates call centres for rebooking.
Meanwhile, flydubai is yet to make any announcement about an extension of the restrictions for its passengers travelling from Nigeria. All direct and indirect flights from Nigeria are suspended until March 12, as per the previous announcement on the airline’s website.
“Passengers are not allowed to enter Dubai if they have visited or transited through Nigeria in the previous 14 days. This does not apply to UAE citizens and outbound passengers travelling 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.
Mauritius flight suspension
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.
