Travel/Tourism
Lufthansa’s Resumption of Flights to Nigeria Thrills Passengers
By Dipo Olowookere
Passengers seeking to travel to Europe, especially Germany could not hide their joy when Lufthansa resumed flight operations on Thursday, December 3, 2020, after an eight-month suspension.
The respected airline again welcomed its passengers yesterday at the Lagos airport on board of its resumed nonstop flight from Frankfurt/Germany.
The leading German carrier will offer up to five weekly departures from Lagos to Frankfurt and from Tuesday, December 8, 2020, it will also connect Abuja with three weekly departures.
All long-haul flights depart from Nigeria in the evening as overnight flights, arriving in Lufthansa’s main hub Frankfurt in the early morning. This allows all passengers from Nigeria to get the full choice of connecting flights to European, American and Asian destinations, leaving all from the same terminal 1.
“Lufthansa always was and will stay dedicated to Nigeria, one of our key markets in Africa. As we have received the final permission to reopen our flight operations.
“We are happy to be the first airline to reconnect Nigeria directly to the centre of Europe and onwards to all other continents,” the General Manager Nigeria & Equatorial Guinea Lufthansa Group Airlines, Adenike Macaulay, stated.
Macaulay further said, “We offer a considerable number of flights to the US and Canada, allowing our Nigerian guests to have family members and friends again at reach throughout the world.
“Health and safety continue to be our top priority and we are committed to maintaining a strict adherence to hygiene regulations for all our flights.”
Lufthansa stopped its operations in Nigeria in March 2020 because of the travel restrictions put in place by the federal government to curb the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.
Lufthansa flight LH568, Frankfurt to Lagos, serviced by an Airbus 330-300, offers passengers seats in all three classes, including Business Class and Premium Economy Class.
After its arrival in Lagos, this service will continue to Malabo /Equatorial Guinea. The nonstop flight will commence with three weekly departures on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to be increased to five weekly frequencies every day except Tuesdays and Sundays. The return flight will be scheduled on the same days of operations reaching Frankfurt only after six hours flight.
LH594 will be the flight number for the resumed connection between Frankfurt and Abuja with three weekly departures. An Airbus 330-300 connects the Nigerian capital to the financial centre of Germany, Frankfurt, also with seats in three classes.
Finally, it is planned that this flight will also resume service to Port Harcourt; however, this onward flight is not yet confirmed until the airport is reopened.
As of now, all flights can be booked immediately through the usual distribution channels and the airlines’ website www.lufthansa.com.
The Lufthansa Group said it has taken special hygiene measures to protect passengers and employees. These apply not only onboard but also before and after the journey.
Details of these measures can be found at www.lufthansa.com/de/en/protection-measures and passengers have been advised to check travel and destination entry requirements before departure.
The firm further emphasised that all intending travellers to Nigeria must have tested negative for COVID-19 as PCR test in the country of departure pre-boarding. The PCR test must be done within 120 hours before departure and preferably within 72 hours pre-boarding.
International travellers will require a second test to be done in Nigeria, seven days after arrival and that registration for travellers to Nigeria is mandatory on https://nitp.ncdc.gov.ng/.
It stated further that for those travelling to Germany, no mandatory PCR test is required, however, passengers are required to register on https://einreiseanmeldung.de and stay in quarantine for 10 days after entry. Transit passengers are expected to abide by health and safety measures in their destination country.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Emirates has made an order for three twin-engine DA42-VI aircraft and its corresponding flight simulator from Austria-based Diamond Aircraft Industries for the Emirates Flight Training Academy (EFTA).
This is in fulfilment of its promise of offering cutting-edge tech and state-of-the-art aircraft to train pilots of the future and help close the industry’s skills gap.
Since 2020, more than 100 cadets have successfully graduated from EFTA, creating a strong pilot recruitment pipeline for Emirates and the industry.
The AUSTRO jet-fuel-powered DA42-VI aircraft is slated to be the flagship that ushers in multi-engine piston (MEP) training at EFTA.
The delivery of the aircraft is expected to commence soon, with all three slated to be received by EFTA in the first half of 2023.
“Our new fleet from Diamond Aircraft is part of our larger strategic intent for our cadet programme. It helps us design a bridging MEP programme for cadets to gain more flying experience while progressing from a single-engine to a light jet aircraft. It strengthens our offering and makes it more unique, rounded and robust.
“Our cadets will benefit hugely as they gain experience on three different types of aircraft, even before they’re licensed. The new fleet also helps us go above and beyond in complying with the new GCAA guidelines.
“The DA42-VI is reliable, eco-friendly and a practical platform for MEP training. We’re confident we’ve made the right choice,” the Vice President of EFTA, Capt Abdulla Al Hammadi, said.
“We are thrilled that our DA42-VI is the choice for Emirates’ flight training. This, once again, solidifies the aircraft’s position as the industry-leading multi-engine piston trainer,” said Liqun (Frank) Zhang, CEO of Diamond Aircraft Austria. “With Emirates, we are adding another premier flight academy to our long list of renowned training operators and are looking forward to supporting them with the most advanced and eco-friendly aircraft available on the market today.”
The 4-seat DA42-VI is the newest version of Diamond’s technology leading light piston twin-engine aircraft. It’s the first certified general aviation piston aircraft to combine modern technology airframe, avionics, and power plants.
With its unique combination of performance and utility, the jet fuel-powered DA42-VI is designed to make transitioning from single to twin-engine much easier. The aircraft generates fuel savings of up to 50% compared to conventional AVGAS-powered twins, and its panoramic canopy provides excellent visibility during all flight manoeuvres.
Since its introduction, well over 1,100 DA42 aircraft have been delivered, outselling all other certified piston twins combined. The all-composite DA42-VI is equipped with efficient, silent, clean and reliable 168hp jet fuel AUSTRO engines AE300, Garmin G1000 NXi with 3-axis Automatic Flight Control System and optional electrically driven air conditioning.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Chief Commercial Officer of Emirates, Mr Adnan Kazim, has said the airline’s forward bookings have remained robust amid a strong customer demand, spurring the company to ramp up its operations across continents.
According to him, in the past months, the airline has planned and executed the rapid growth of its network operations, reintroducing services to five cities, launching flights to one new destination (Tel Aviv), and adding 251 weekly flights onto existing routes and continuing the roll-out of service enhancements in the air and on the ground.
It was disclosed that Emirates has continued to scale up its A380 operations with the reintroduction of the iconic double-decker across its network: Glasgow (from 26 March), Casablanca from (15 April), Beijing (from 01 May), Shanghai (from 04 June), Nice (from 1 June), Birmingham (from 1 July), Kuala Lumpur (from 01 August), and Taipei (from 01 August).
“Emirates is working hard on several fronts – to bring back operating capacity as quickly as the ecosystem can manage while also upgrading our fleet and product to ensure our customers always enjoy the best possible Emirates experience.
“So far, four of our A380 aircraft have been completely refurbished with our new cabin interiors and Premium Economy seats, and more will enter service as our $2 billion cabin and service enhancement program picks up pace,” Mr Kazim added.
He noted that in the coming months, established routes to Europe, Australia and Africa would be served with more Emirates flights, while in East Asia, more cities are seeing route restarts.
Emirates had upcoming route enhancements by regions, including in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, East Asia, as well as in Africa which covers Cairo: from 25 to 28 weekly flights by 29 October; Dar es Salaam: from 5 flights a week to daily flights starting 01 May and Entebbe: from 6 flights a week to daily flights starting 01 July.
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
A number of African countries are focusing on promoting extensively inbound tourism. They are luring potential external investors to the tourism industry.
The latest in the southern African region is Mozambique, which has approved a visa exemption for 28 countries for tourism and business.
As the Council of Ministers approved the decree in mid-March, the exemption applies to visitors holding ordinary passports and allows for a 30-day stay, renewable to an additional 60 days.
The model adopted by the Mozambican government is similar to the United States visa waiver program in the sense that it requires travellers to register on a platform for pre-screening at least 48 hours before travelling and to pay a processing fee of MZN-650 (equivalent £8.50).
In the list released, Nigeria, which prides itself as the giant of Africa and the largest economy on the continent, was missing.
The approved countries for this programme are Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The visa exemption is a follow-up to the launch of a platform last December that allowed prospective visitors to apply for an electronic pre-authorization to travel into the country. The introduction of e-visas has seen an increase of over 30 per cent in the number of travellers entering the country compared to the same period in the previous year.
The e-visa platform commits the country to respond to applications within five days, but general feedback places an average response at 24 hours, and the few issues reported are usually created by users not uploading the required documentation.
President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, since August 2022, has taken steps containing 20 reform measures aimed at delivering to visitors and potential investors a path for a more competitive and more accessible country. Mozambique, with an approximate population of 30 million, is one of the 16-member Southern African Development Community.
