The minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Festus Keyamo, has paid an official trip to the United Arab Emirate (UAE) ahead of the scheduled resumption of Emirates flights from Nigeria to the Arab nation.
Keyamo disclosed this in a statement on his verified X handle on Friday.
According to the statement, the minister led a technical team “for the negotiation of a new Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) between both countries to guide our new relationship henceforth.”
Keyamo also disclosed that both countries “firmly agreed on the reciprocal rights our local airlines will also have to begin flight operations to the UAE.”
The statement reads, “Ahead of the resumption of Emirates flights to Nigeria next week Tuesday, I was in the UAE earlier today, together with my technical team, for the negotiation of a new bilateral air service agreement (BASA) between both countries to guide our new relationship henceforth. Today, we firmly agreed on the reciprocal rights our local airlines will also have to begin flight operations to the UAE.”
This comes on the heels of the recent lifting of the visa ban imposed on Nigeria and Nigerians by the UAE authorities.
Chronicle NG reported that the UAE has lifted the visa ban placed on Nigerian travellers after almost one year.
President Bola Tinubu and President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, reached a historic agreement on September 11, 2023, which reportedly led to the lifting of the visa ban.
