Nigerian passengers heading for Dubai have had to make alternative arrangements to arrive at their destination by making connecting flights through Abu Dhabi and other destinations in the Middle East following a recent announcement that Emirates Airlines had cancelled one of its twice-daily flights to Dubai.

Emirates Airlines originally operated one flight per day from Nigeria to Dubai, but increased the frequency to two in response to an upsurge in passenger number.

Its management explained some days ago that the reduction of scheduled flights was to allow for the upgrade of the runway of its Dubai International Airport terminal from May 1 till July 20, 2014.

There has been anxiety about how the Nigerian passengers will cope with the reduction of the flights, but findings by our correspondent revealed that the move had had little effect on passenger traffic from the country.

A businessman, who shuttles between Nigeria and Dubai, Mr. Timothy Adura, said the reduction of daily flights made little difference to his schedule.

“Actually, I heard the announcement sometime last week, but it hasn’t changed anything much as far as I am concerned. As I have told you, I am a businessman, and I try to cut cost as much as possible; so, I actually make use of connecting flights through Abu Dhabi, and they are usually much cheaper, I can tell you that.

“The interesting thing is that I know a lot of people like me, who prefer to fly other airlines that connect Dubai through Abu Dhabi, and if one books for a flight much earlier, like I usually do, one can fly really cheap; so the Emirates thing doesn’t affect me, I actually use Etihad or Air Jordanian at times.”

The Managing Director, Gadeshire Travel and Tours Limited, Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, said the reduction of flights by Emirates could have posed some problems in the peak of the summer period.

He added that since the runway repairs were billed to be completed before the end of July, the reduction in flight would not have much effect.

Adebayo said, “I think the issue is mainly about rescheduling. Those who had earlier planned to go on the Emirates’ afternoon flight will just have to reschedule to an evening flight; it is not a big deal. And since they claim that the repairs will be completed by July 20, it is not an issue.

“I can also tell you that prices to that destination have not increased as a result of the reduction; so, it really doesn’t change much.”

The Publicity Secretary, National Association of Nigerian Travel Agents, Mrs. Ngozi Ngoka, said, “I can tell you that there has not been any price increment on the route, and this is because there is a lot of competition on that route. Nigerians going to Dubai always look out for the cheapest tickets and they are comfortable going with connecting flights through Abu Dhabi because the waiting period is very short.

“A lot of airlines such as Qatar Airways, Air Jordanian, Etihad Air, Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines ply that route; so, competition is very healthy there, which will make any unnecessary price increase difficult.”