Dubai-based airline Emirates has announced on May 16 that it is heading back to Nigeria. The move comes after a two-year pause on all Emirates flights from the airline’s mega hub at Dubai International Airport to the Nigerian capital of Lagos. 

Resuming service on October 1st, 2024, the once-daily flight to Lagos will be operated by a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft with Emirates' signature “game-changer” first-class suites. The flight will offer 8 first-class suites, 42 business-class seats, and 304 economy seats. The airline i set to offer its award-winning onboard service, with high-quality meals, premium beverages, and over 6,500 inflight entertainment options - including 23 Nigerian movies - on this route. 

The outbound flight, EK783, will depart Dubai (DXB) at 09:45 local time, flying for 8 hours and 35 minutes before touching down in Lagos (LOS) at 15:20 local time. The Emirates aircraft will then be on the ground in Lagos for a little over two hours before operating flight EK784 back to Dubai. The return flight will depart Lagos at 15:30 local time, flying for 8 hours and 40 minutes through the night and landing in Dubai at 05:10. 

The resumption of service between the United Arab Emirates and Nigeria will open up the door to hundreds of destinations for Nigerian travelers who will be able to take advantage of Emirates' extensive global route network. Emirates will now operate a total of 157 flights a week to 19 African destinations once the Lagos flight launches. The airline also offers over 130 regional destinations through its partnerships with South African Airways, Airlink, Tunis Air, Royal Air Maroc, and other prominent African airlines.  

Emirates Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer, Adnan Kazim, had this to comment on the resumed service: 

“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 connect leisure and business travelers to Dubai and onwards to our network of over 140 destinations.”

The decision to resume the Dubai-Lagos route comes after a two-year hiatus of service between the two cities. In August of 2022, Emirates announced that they would be suspending service to Nigeria due to the airline’s inability to repatriate funds from Nigeria, an amount over $85 million. 

With regards to this issue, Kazim thanked “…the Nigerian government for their partnership and support in re-establishing this route and look[s] forward to welcoming passengers back onboard….”