Middle East’s largest airline Emirates has announced the resumption of daily flight operations to Lagos, Nigeria from October 1st 2024, offering customers more choice and connectivity from Nigeria’s largest city to and through Dubai.
The Dubai-based airline suspended flights to Nigeria in October 2022 because it could not repatriate funds kept in the West African nation.
The airline attributed the suspension to the $85 million in revenue that had been stuck in Nigeria as the country was facing severe dollar shortage.
The service will be operated by a Boeing 777-300ER. The Emirates Boeing 777-300ER serving Lagos will operate with 8 First-Class suites, 42 Business Class seats, and 304 seats in Economy Class.
EK783 will depart Dubai at 0945hrs and arrive in Lagos at 1520hrs and the return flight, EK784, will leave Lagos at 1730hrs and arrive in Dubai at 0510hrs the following day.
“We are excited to resume our services to Nigeria. The Lagos-Dubai service has traditionally been popular with customers in Nigeria and we hope to reconnect leisure and business travelers to Dubai and onwards to our network of over 140 destinations,” said Emirates’ Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer Adnan Kazim.
“We thank the Nigerian government for their partnership and support in re-establishing this route and we look forward to welcoming passengers back onboard,” added Kazim.
Tickets can be ordered via the Emirates website www.emirates.com or through travel agents.
With the resumption of daily passenger flights, the airline’s cargo arm, Emirates SkyCargo, will further bolster the trade relationship by offering more than 300 tonnes of belly-hold cargo capacity, in and out of Lagos every week.
Moreover, Emirates SkyCargo will support Nigerian businesses by exporting their goods via its state-of-the-art hub in Dubai, into key markets such as the UAE, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Bahrain, among others with key anticipated commodities such as Kola Nuts, food and beverages, and urgent courier material.
Emirates operates to 19 gateways in Africa with 157 flights per week from Dubai, with further reach to an additional 130 regional points in Africa through its codeshare and interline partnerships with South African Airways, Airlink, Royal Air Maroc and Tunis Air, among others.
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