Emirates Airlines announced the suspension of its flight operations to Nigeria, starting September 1, 2022

Emirates Airlines has declared that, as of September 1, 2022, it will no longer operate flights to Nigeria.

This was revealed on Thursday, August 18, in a statement by the national airline of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who cited their inability to repatriate their foreign exchange revenues from Nigeria.

Over 20 foreign airlines worth at least $600 million have had their flights to Nigeria barred since the year's began.

Emirates had stated two weeks prior that around $85 million of these cash were in Nigeria.

Emirates has requested Nigeria's minister of aviation, Hadi Sirika, to help the repatriation of its $85 million in earnings.

The airline had reduced its 11 weekly frequencies into Lagos Airport to to 7 as of Monday, August 15.

Now, it has declared that beginning on September 1, all flights to Nigeria will be canceled.

The suspension, according to the airline, will "prevent additional losses and decrease the impact on its operational costs that continue to mount in the Nigerian market."

Emirates Airlines said in a statement: 

"Therefore, Emirates has taken the difficult decision to suspend all flights to and from Nigeria, effective 1 September 2022, to limit further losses and impact on our operational costs that continue to accumulate in the market.

"We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to our customers, however, the circumstances are beyond our control at this stage. We will be working to help impacted customers make alternative travel arrangements wherever possible.

"Should there be any positive developments in the coming days regarding Emirates’ blocked funds in Nigeria, we remain keen to serve Nigeria, and our operations provide much-needed connectivity for Nigerian travellers, providing access to trade and tourism opportunities to Dubai, and to our broader network of over 130 destinations."