UPDATE 1-Nigeria lifts short-lived Emirates flight suspension

(Updates with suspension lifting)
By Libby George and Alexis Akwagyiram
LAGOS, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Nigeria has lifted its suspension
of Emirates airlines flights imposed after the carrier sought
additional COVID-19 tests for passengers from Nigeria, a
spokesman for the country's aviation regulator said on Friday.
"The suspension has just been lifted, because they have
complied with what we want," said the Nigerian Civil Aviation
Authority (NCAA) spokesman in a phone call. He said further
details would soon be made public in a statement.
An Emirates spokesperson said the company "can confirm that
we will continue to operate services to Abuja and Lagos."
An aviation ministry spokesman on Monday told a news
conference that the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in addition to
requiring a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test before flying
from Nigeria, was adding an extra requirement of having a rapid
test four hours before departure.
He said airlines that insisted on the additional test would
be suspended until an appropriate structure was put in place to
conduct the second test within four hours of departure.
In a letter to the airline's country manager, dated Feb. 4
and titled "suspension of Emirates airlines operations to
Nigeria", the NCAA said the airline had carried passengers from
Nigeria using rapid antigen tests "conducted by laboratories
that are neither approved nor authorized by the appropriate
regulatory bodies".
The NCAA, in its letter, said the decision to suspend
Emirates was taken because the airline failed to heed a request
to either accept passengers without the rapid test until the
appropriate infrastructure was in place or suspend flights to
and from Nigeria until that time.
This month, UAE authorities said the airline's passengers
flying to Dubai from Nigeria would not be permitted entry if
they transited via a third country and could only enter on
direct flights, according to industry sources and a travel
notice on the RwandAir website.