Emirates has announced that it will resume flights to Jordan and Nigeria in the coming days. The airline will restart services on three routes; two in Nigeria and one in Jordan. To entice people to travel again, the airline is also offering free COVID-19 cover with expenses paid in quarantine.
Emirates to return to Nigeria
UAE-based airlines Emirates has announced this week that it will return to Nigeria in the coming days. The airline shared on Friday, September 5th, that routes to Lagos and Abuja will resume next week. The Lagos flight will start on September 7th and operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.
Though Emirates’ service to Abuja will start again on September 9th, it will be offered daily from then on.
With the addition of these two flights, Emirates will now operate in 13 African cities, including:
- Addis Ababa;
- Dar Es Salaam; and
- Nairobi.
Emirates will return to Jordan
In addition to its flights to Nigeria, Emirates also announced on September 4th that it would return to Amman in Jordan. A daily Boeing 777-300ER service will leave Dubai at 15:00 local time (11:00 UTC) every day and reach Amman at 16:55. It will then depart from Amman at 19:00 local time (16:00 UTC) and arrive in Dubai at 23:00.
Services to Jordan will resume from September 8th and now means that Emirates serves eight Middle Eastern destinations. These include:
- Bahrain;
- Beirut; and
- Tehran.
Any passengers wishing to board these flights that transit through Dubai must carry with the test results from a COVID-19 Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assessment.
Protecting passengers en-route
With the advent of new travel restrictions and slightly more cautious passengers, airlines have been trying to reassure their customers wherever they can. While many have plugged the rigorousness of their cleaning schedules, Emirates is doing something slightly different.
The airline is giving its customers free COVID-19 cover for their journey. If passengers fly between July 23rd and October 31st, they will be entitled to a 31-day health cover policy as a standard. Passengers do not need to sign up for this service.
Emirates says that it will cover COVID-19 related medical expenses up to €150,000 ($177,570). It will also pay quarantine expenses up to €100 ($118) per day for a maximum of 14 days.
The purpose of these measures is to encourage people to travel safely and confidently in the near future. In a press release for the initiative, the Chief Executive at Emirates HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said,
“Emirates is proud to lead the way in boosting confidence for international travel. We know people are yearning to fly as borders around the world gradually re-open, but they are seeking flexibility and assurances should something unforeseen happen during their travel…
“We are now taking it to the next level, by being the first in the industry to offer our customers free global cover for COVID-19 medical expenses and quarantine costs should they incur these costs during their travel. It is an investment on our part, but we are putting our customers first, and we believe they will welcome this initiative.”
Providing they meet the requirements for this cover, passengers flying to Lagos, Abuja, and Amman will be eligible to receive the same expense reimbursement.
