The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, on Monday confirmed that Emirates Airline is set to resume flights to Nigeria.

The Minister said that all the necessary things have been put in place and he has the letter from the airline signalling their intention to resume flights to Nigeria.

According to him, the return of the airline is a direct result of diplomatic engagements by President Bola Tinubu when he visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after communication broke down between Nigeria and the country.

Keyamo added that what transpired during the earlier visit and resolution was not fake but was presented in a ‘hasty’ manner.

He said: “Emirates flight resumption is almost happening. I just received a letter from Emirates. The letter is on my phone now. They have gone through all the gamut and they are ready to come back. They will announce the date because to restart a route, they must get an aircraft for that route.

“I am announcing to Nigerians for the first time; that I just received a letter from Emirates now. The letter is with me. I have a hard copy thanking you for all the efforts we made. Mr President was the showman here. He was the one who pushed for it. He made my job easy because he went there, and had a diplomatic shuttle to resolve all the issues.

“That was why I said the last announcement was hasty and not fake news.

“They will announce the date for their next flight. We have received a letter confirming that all the issues have been resolved and prepared to start coming back. It may be before June.”

Apart from Emirates suspending flights to Nigeria, in 2022, the UAE Immigration Department also stopped visa applications from Nigeria and other countries.