By OLA MUDOPE, Lagos –
Emirates Airlines has announced that it would resume its Lagos, Nigeria services on Oct. 1, operating a daily service between Lagos and Dubai.
Emirates’ Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer, Adnan Kazim, announced this in a statement issued on Thursday in Lagos.
Mr. Kazim said the service would be operated using a Boeing 777-300ER. EK783 will depart Dubai at 9.45 a.m., arriving in Lagos at 3.20 p.m.; the return flight EK784 will leave Lagos at 5.30 p.m. and arrives in Dubai at 5.10 a.m the next day.
He said: “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 travellers to Dubai and onwards to our network of over 140 destinations.
“We thank the Nigerian government for their partnership and support in re-establishing this route and we look forward to welcoming passengers back onboard,” he said.
According to the airline, with the resumption of operations to Nigeria, 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, Tunis Air, among others.
It also said that as a major economic hub in Africa, Nigeria and the UAE have built strong bilateral trade relations over the years, headlined by Lagos as the nation’s commercial centre.
It explained that 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 bellyhold cargo capacity, in and out of Lagos every week.
“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.
“These are Kola Nuts, food and beverages, and urgent courier material. Emirates SkyCargo will also import vital goods such as pharmaceuticals and electronics as well as general cargo from key markets such as the UAE, India and Hong Kong.
“Keeping trade flowing seamlessly, these goods will be transported quickly, efficiently, and reliably via the airline’s multi-vertical specialized product portfolio,” it said.
It said that Emirates Boeing 777-300ER serving Lagos would operate 8 First Class suites, 42 Business Class seats, and 304 seats in Economy Class.
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