Travel News

(Bloomberg) -- Spain’s government will suspend the obligation to wear face masks outdoors as soon as next week, Cadena Ser reported.

The order, which was reintroduced last December to stem the Omicron variant, will take effect by next Wednesday, the radio station said, citing people in the government it didn’t identify. 

The news comes as the latest coronavirus wave ebbs in Spain, with the infection rate falling for a ninth day in a row to stand at 2,420 per 100,000 inhabitants as of Thursday. The step would add Spain to a growing list of European countries, including France and Sweden, that are loosening restrictions.

In January, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called on European governments to start considering the possibility that Covid-19 be treated as an endemic illness.

Air Peace airline Friday said that it will resume direct scheduled flights to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, UAE, on March 1st, 2022.

This is coming after the lifting of flight restrictions between Nigeria and UAE following protracted covid-19 protocol and flight frequencies disagreement between the two countries.

Recall the two countries resolved the differences and restored flight frequencies to Nigeria’s Air Peace and UAE’s Emirates airline last week.

Air Peace has also announced that it is set to expand its West Coast presence by launching flight operations into Niamey, Niger, on February 25, 2022, as well as Kinshasha and Malabo in the first Quarter of this year .

The Management of the airline who made the revelation in a news release issued to journalists on Friday, February 4, 2022, stated that Lagos-Dubai-Lagos flights will operate three days weekly from any of its domestic routes through its Lagos hub. 

“We are happy to inform the flying public that in tandem with our commitment to providing more flight connectivity and meeting the air travel needs of Nigerians, we are restarting our UAE operations, but with Dubai as the destination, and not Sharjah.”

” We abundantly appreciate the vital role played by the Nigerian Government in making this possible”, Air Peace asserted. 

The airline further stated that before first quarter runs out, “we shall commence scheduled flights to Kinshasha in DR Congo and Malabo in Equatorial Guinea, to enlarge our footprints in West Africa and offer the flying public more network options”, adding that Niamey flights will operate from Abuja and Kano on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays with the Hopper jets. 

Air Peace has been operating scheduled commercial flights into the UAE since July, 2019. It  had assured that it would continue to scale up its service delivery to surpass the expectations of air travelers, especially with the activation of its ambitious fleet modernization scheme and a renewed commitment to “unequalled customer experience.”

 Air Peace has also been designated by the Federal Government to fly into other international destinations such as Guangzhou-China, Delhi-India, UK and Houston-US. 

 It currently operate  20 domestic routes, 6 regional routes and 2 international destinations while it has an increasing modern fleet of 34 aircraft, including five brand new E195-E2s and 5 Airbus 320s.

Nigerians and other foreign national doing business in Egypt are being charged $35,000 for business registration. 

Lai Mohammed, Information and Culture Minister , who denounced the deposit of N19.2 million requested by the Egyptian authorities from foreigners, including Nigerians, to operate a commercial company in Egypt, during a recent meeting with the Nigerian community in Cairo. described the condition as unacceptable. 

The meeting which was held on the sidelines of a bilateral discussion with the Africa Export Import Bank, Afreximbank, on how Nigeria can access funds to support its growing creative industry. 

Alhaji Mohammed had directed some private sector stakeholders involved in digital change to Afreximbank to help them obtain funds to complete the private sector financially driven project. 

Nura Rimi, the Nigerian ambassador to Egypt, while speaking at the meeting organised by the minister, said such a condition negates the unity that unites African countries. 

He, therefore, promised to raise the matter with Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyema and other relevant bodies upon his return to Nigeria. 

The minister also denounces the high number of Nigerian children who do not attend school in Egypt due to the language barrier and the unavailability of registered Nigerian schools in Cairo. 

The Nigerian community had told the minister that the official language of education in Egypt is Arabic and that the few British- and American-run private schools in that country were exorbitant. 

POLL

They said that no less than 7,000 Nigerian children in Egypt did not go to school and therefore, called for the construction of a Nigerian school in Cairo. 

They also told the minister that because many of them were unable to pay the mandatory $35,000 deposit, their businesses had been labeled illegal while they were subject to regular harassment and arrest by Egyptian security officials. 

The minister, however, called on the Nigerian community in Egypt to ignore most of the negatives stories about Nigeria, especially those on social media. 

By Sulaimon Salau

Nigeria’s airline, Air Peace has revealed plans to resume direct flights to Dubai, United Arab Emirates on March 1, 2022. 

This is as the airline is also set to expand its West Coast presence by launching flight operations into Niamey, Niger, on February 25, 2022, as well as Kinshasha and Malabo in Quarter 1, 2022. 

The airline stated that Lagos-Dubai-Lagos flights would operate three days weekly from any of its domestic routes through its Lagos hub.
 

“We are happy to inform the flying public that in tandem with our commitment to providing more flight connectivity and meeting the air travel needs of Nigerians, we are restarting our UAE operations, but with Dubai as the destination, and not Sharjah. We appreciate the vital role played by the Nigerian government in making this possible,” Air Peace asserted. 
 
The airline stated that before the first quarter runs out, “we shall commence scheduled flights to Kinshasha in DR Congo and Malabo in Equatorial Guinea, to enlarge our footprints in West Africa and offer the flying public more network options”, adding that Niamey flights will operate from Abuja and Kano on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays with the Hopper jets.  

Air Peace has been operating scheduled commercial flights into the UAE since July, 2019, and added that it would continue to scale up its service delivery to surpass the expectations of air travelers, especially with the activation of its ambitious fleet modernisation scheme and a renewed commitment to unequalled customer experience. 

The airline has also been designated by the Federal Government to fly into other international destinations such as Guangzhou, China; Delhi, India; UK and Houston, US.  

Bank of England’s interest rate rise and soaring household costs will hit affordability, says Halifax

UK house prices reached a record high in January according to Halifax, but the lender warned growth is likely to slow “considerably” this year as household finances come under increasing pressure.

The price of the average UK home reached a record high of £276,759 in January, up £24,500 over the year, and £37,500 higher than two years ago. However, house price growth slowed to just 0.3% in January, the smallest monthly increase since June last year, in a sign that the pandemic-fuelled boom could be fading.

“While the limited supply of new housing stock to the market will continue to provide some support to house prices, it remains likely that the rate of house price growth will slow considerably over the next year,” said Russell Galley, a managing director at Halifax.

Related: UK house prices hit record high, but cost of living squeeze will slow growth ‘considerably’ – business live

Halifax, which has previously said that the housing market “defied expectations” last year, said affordability remains at historically low levels as price rises continue to outstrip growth in earnings.

Last week, the Bank of England raised interest rates for the second time in three months, as it sought to temper inflation, which is running at a 30-year high of 5.4%, with analysts expecting further rises later this year.

Homeowners are also facing a dramatic increase in living costs, including higher energy and food bills, rising phone and broadband charges, and increased national insurance payments from April.

“This situation is expected to become more acute in the short term as household budgets face even greater pressure from an increase in the cost of living and rising interest rates begin to feed through to mortgage rates,” said Galley. “Despite record levels of first-time buyers stepping on to the ladder last year, younger generations still face significant barriers to homeownership as deposit requirements remain challenging.”

In the final four months of last year house price growth ran at more than 1% each month, before January’s dip, said Halifax. House prices remain 9.7% up in average compared with January last year.

“Deposits will be key to the level of house price inflation this year,” said Anthony Codling, the chief executive of the property data site Twindig. “Those with a big deposit will be able to rise above the living and mortgage cost rises, those without will not unfortunately. The deposit poor will also find it harder to save as living costs rise.”

Halifax said Wales had the strongest start to the year of any nation or region, with annual house price inflation of 13.9% compared with last January, to an average of £205,253.

Northern Ireland house prices rose by an average of 10.2% to £170,982, while Scotland was up 8.9% year on year to £192,698, a dip on December.

In England, the north-west was once again the best-performing region, up 12% year on year to £213,200, with the second highest annual growth rate in the UK.

London remains the weakest-performing region with annual growth of 4.5% in January, a third monthly increase double the rate recorded in December and the strongest performance in a year.

The annual rate of growth in average UK house prices was unchanged in January at 9.7%.

According to a statement issued in Abuja by Mr Gabriel Odu of NIDCOM Media, Public Relations and Protocol Unit, the Chairman/CEO Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa, assured that the Nigerian Embassy in Kiev, Ukraine, is doing everything possible to ensure the safety and security of all Diaspora Nigerians in that country.

The NIDCOM Boss also encouraged Nigerian citizens in Ukraine to go to the Embassy’s website and complete the registration process.

Morocco reopened its airspace on Monday in a bid to breathe life into its crisis-hit tourism sector, two months after it cancelled commercial flights over coronavirus fears.

The North African kingdom's latest move was welcomed by tourism businesses who have suffered two lost years due to the pandemic, as well as by Moroccans stranded abroad.

Passengers heading to the kingdom will still need to show proof of vaccination against the Covid-19 illness and a negative PCR test within the past 48 hours, the government said in a statement.

On arrival, they will undergo further rapid tests and some will be chosen at random for another PCR test, it said.

It also warned tourists of "the possibility of an additional test at their hotel or place of residence 48 hours after their entry into the country", with positive cases obliged to self-isolate.

Morocco's vital tourism sector has been battered by the pandemic and ensuing travel restrictions, with a 71 percent drop in arrivals in 2021 compared to 2019 and some eight billion euros in losses.

Authorities have vowed to launch a promotional campaign for "destination Morocco" and say they are working with airlines to relaunch the sector.

Rabat has also laid out a more than 180-million-euro campaign to keep jobs and firms in the sector on life support -- but many say the funds are not enough.

By Kingsley Jeremiah (Abuja), Eniola Daniel, Victor Gbonegun and Adedamola Saka (Lagos)

• Artificial scarcity caused by recall of dirty petrol, source claims
• NARTO to withdraw haulage services over diesel price, operation cost

Residents of the nation’s commercial capital, Lagos, began the new week, yesterday, with some level of anxiety and confusion as fuel scarcity appeared in some parts of the state, especially on the Island axis.  

With an estimated population of 15.3 million, the roads play host to over five million cars and 200,000 commercial vehicles. The panic began gradually at the weekend when unusual long queues of vehicle at various filling stations in Ikoyi, Victoria Island and Lekki were noticed as residents spent longer period trying to buy the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol.

Many had attributed this to increased demand for fuel due to power outage following a fire incident that led to the shutdown of Nigeria’s largest power plant, Egbin, from the national grid, last week. 

However, the long queues persisted yesterday morning despite improved power supply. There were long queues on Awolowo road in Ikoyi, which caused gridlock along the axis.  

The situation was different on the mainland part of Lagos as queues were barely noticed at filling stations monitored. This posed a challenge for motorists and commuters resuming their daily activities after the weekend break.
 
Most of the fuel stations visited in the metropolis claimed they were without supply. The few stations that had supply attracted long queues.
  
From Ojodu-Berger to Lekki, Gbagada, Alapere, Oshodi-Apapa axis, Ajah, Sangotedo, Mile-2, among others, long queues were sighted in filling stations, which in some stations spiraled into the major roads.
 
Many commuters along the Lekki-Epe Expressway, including Sangotedo and Victoria Garden City (VGC) axis had a hectic time in traffic. On the Island (Ikoyi, Victoria Island and Obalende axis), only a few stations had supply with manageable queues. It was the same situation along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
  
Some commuters resorted to trekking long distances to get to their destinations, while commercial transporters took advantage of the situation to hike transport fares on busy routes. The fare from Ajah to CMS, which, ordinarily, was N400, was hiked to N1,000.

A motorist who spoke to The Guardian in Obalende alleged that many stations were not dispensing fuel, rather they chose to create artificial scarcity. Some, however, were attending to customers buying in jerry cans for the black market business.    

There were no queues at filling stations in Mushin, Isolo, Ejigbo, Ikotun and environs.  The Guardian, yesterday, gathered that the flash petrol scarcity currently being experienced in Lagos is due to current effort by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to recall harmful imported petroleum products.

According to sources, most of the petrol imported into the country under the Direct Sale, Direct Purchase (DSDP) contract has a high content of methanol and ethanol, which are outside the official specification of Nigeria’s petrol. “This product is highly harmful to the market,” a source said.

A senior official in the downstream sector, who pleaded anonymity, confirmed the development, adding that NNPC is currently doing a product tracing to contain the harmful implication in the market.

“Nigeria should not be doing business with companies with bad reputation in the market. The implication is very cruel on the consumers of these products, most especially Lagosians,” he stated.

The issue of dirty petrol is coming at a time when there is a raging controversy on the removal of petrol subsidy or otherwise. The NNPC has always allayed fears of any hitch in the supply of petroleum products, assuring of its availability, despite reported cases of scarcity in some parts of the country.

HOWEVER, despite the repeated assurances, the entire country may be plunged into another round of terrifying fuel scarcity if the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) makes bold its statement of withdrawing haulage service should the Federal Government fail to urgently address the rising cost of operation that its members are facing.

Top on the list, according to the union, is the ever-increasing cost of diesel, which petrol tankers run on and which is part of the determinants of freight charges. The cost of diesel presently is N430 per litre.

The association’s National President, Yusuf Lawal Othman, in a statement, yesterday, stated that his members now find it difficult to remain afloat because of the high freight rate, which is regulated and paid in arrears.

He insisted that members would be advised to ground their haulage tankers if nothing was done to address the matter, describing the business environment as scorching and unbearable. “Our people have parked their trucks and more people are going to park theirs,” he said.

While some states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has been struggling with fuel scarcity despite promises of sufficient petroleum products, Othman said the challenge could escalate across the country.

The association had earlier decried delay in the payment of about N45 billion bridging cost for diesel, demanding an increase in the transportation allowance factored into the pump price of petrol, but the continuation of subsidy payment on petrol meant that the freight cost would remain.

Earlier this year, the Federal Government had hinted on a 20 per cent hike in the cost of freighting petrol across the country, as part of measures to boost the revenue of transport owners. The increase would have raised the cost of bridging petrol to N9.11 per litre from N7.51 in the petrol pricing template of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).

Decrying the prevailing situation, Othman said: “We will tell them (tanker drivers) to park if nothing is done because we can’t operate in such manner. Transporters, whose freight rate is fixed and regulated, cannot sustain the business if nothing is done.

“We can’t operate. We can’t work if nothing is done to increase the freight rate. The condition is unbearable because of the cost of diesel.”

He urged the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to urgently increase the freight rate to reflect the present cost of Automative Gas Oil (AGO) diesel and spare parts.

According to him, ex-depot cost of diesel soared to N401 per litre on Monday. Othman cried other that it might hit N420 per litre at the filling stations if nothing is done urgently.

“We have a problem. Today, the price of AGO ex-depot is N401 per litre. It means that in Abuja, Kaduna, Kano, it will reach N420 to N430. At the filling stations it will reach like N450.”

Last week, the Federal Government revealed that between December 2021 and February 2022, it has paid a total of N52.7 billion as bridging claims to transporters.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, made this disclosure in Lagos during an engagement meeting with the downstream stakeholders.

The authority had stated that the Federal Government would continue to pay the cost of bridging petrol to ensure its availability across the country.

MEANWHILE, it was gathered last week that petrol sufficiency days and stock figures are receding. While NNPC used to boast of 30 to 40- day stock sufficiency and about two billion metres, the record dipped to 24.02-day sufficiency and about 1,345,338,930 litres stock of petrol.

This was evident in a document titled: ‘Petroleum Products Stock & Days Sufficiency Report 27th January 2022,’ obtained from NMDPRA. Nigeria consumes between 54 million to 60 million litres of petrol daily.

BY  Okechukwu Nnodim

Many filling stations were shut on Monday and this led to queues by motorists in the few outlets that dispensed Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, in Abuja, neighbouring states, as well as in parts of Lagos.

It was learnt that marketers of PMS were still unsure about moves to halt petrol subsidy, considering the fact that the government had projected in 2021 that it would stop the subsidy regime in February this year.

Also, our correspondent gathered that some members of the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners had discontinued operations in protest against the low freight rate for petrol which they receive from government.

The National President, NARTO, Yusuf Othman, told journalists in Abuja on Monday that “our people have parked their trucks and more people are going to park (theirs).”

The National President, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, also stated that the fear over subsidy withdrawal had been in the minds of both private depot owners and some retailers, leading to product shortage at filling stations.

“I’ve explained to you that DPOs are studying the situation around subsidy, since the government has been making various statements on this matter and this has its way of affecting the market,” he told our correspondent.

Queues for petrol in filling stations have been appearing and disappearing in Abuja and neighbouring states in the past few weeks, as marketers confirmed that aside from panic buying by motorists, there have been disruptions in PMS supply.

Ukadike had told our correspondent, “They (government) said they want to fully deregulate. That statement and similar ones which some ministers made that by 2022 we are going to start full deregulation, made some PDOs decide to hoard or withhold their products.

“They (PDOs) are doing this to be able to match up with the cost of petrol when it rises above N300/litre upon full deregulation. Now, this became a bottleneck in terms of the chain of demand and supply.

“So people who were taking petroleum products out of Lagos from the PDOs stopped a little bit to be able to look at the market value and their cost of logistics.”

Ukadike added, “That was what put a gap in the chain of distribution that led to the appearing and disappearing queues in many parts of Abuja and the north, as well as in some other locations of Nigeria.”

But the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited had described the queues as panic buying. Its spokesperson, Garba-Deen Mohammed, could not be reached when contacted on Monday.

A text sent to him was not replied to up till the time of filing this report around 9.16pm Nigerian time.

However, in a recent statement issued by the company on the matter, it said, “The NNPC Limited wishes to assure the public that the company has sufficient PMS stock to meet the needs of Nigerians.

“The public is therefore, advised not to engage in panic buying of petrol; and to ignore all rumours that may suggest otherwise.”

It stated that in line with the existing laws of the land, NNPC was deeply committed to ensuring energy security for the country.

The Ottawa Police Service issued a statement shortly after the action saying that two people were arrested at the Coventry Road site for mischief and that "multiple vehicles" were seized.

City solicitor David White told city councillors on Saturday that the declaration of a state of emergency "does little" in terms of legal authority and does not give more power to Ottawa police.

A local state of emergency will, however, allow Ottawa to work more efficiently to manage essential services and make procurement more flexible, the city said.

Provincial legislation grants mayors powers during an emergency to make orders "not contrary to law to implement the emergency plan of the municipality and to protect property and the health, safety and welfare of the inhabitants of the emergency area."

City yet to ask for military aid

The state of emergency and increased police action represent significant changes in the response to the chaotic situation in Ottawa — where demonstrators have become entrenched in the city's downtown core.

Amid increasing resident anger, police said on Saturday that they lack the resources to end the protest, now in its 10th day.

Politicians have also increasingly denounced the protest over COVID-19 public health restrictions, with Ontario Premier Doug Ford and others calling it an "occupation" and the head of the Ottawa Police Services Board referring to it as an "insurrection."

Ford said on Sunday that his government was supporting Ottawa in whatever way it could. His office told CBC News the city had not asked the province to request military aid from the federal government.

In a statement, Ontario's solicitor general, Sylvia Jones, emphasized that politicians cannot direct the police but that discussions were ongoing "to ensure [Ottawa police] have every necessary resource they need to keep their community safe."

Local, provincial and federal politicians have condemned the protesters' actions and called for a solution. But what that solution might be remains unclear.

"This group is emboldened by the lack of enforcement by every level of government," Diane Deans, a city councillor and chair of the police services board, said Saturday.

"We're giving a signal to everyone coming into town that it's a free-for-all," Coun. Carol Anne Meehan said.

More than 650 calls have been made to Ottawa police since the start of the protest, resulting in 97 criminal investigations, police said Sunday. The force said earlier in the week it had opened 11 investigations related to hate crimes and four people have been charged.

Structures in place in Ottawa's Confederation Park, including a plywood shack and tents, were removed on Sunday after protesters co-operated with police and the park was fenced off.

Government response in question

The group is facing a proposed class-action lawsuit spearheaded by Ottawa human rights lawyer Paul Champ, who on Saturday posted a video statement saying truckers could be excluded from the lawsuit if they leave the city by Monday morning.

Organizers for the protest maintain they intend to stay in the city until the federal government lifts all restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, even though most of those measures were introduced by the provinces.

The convoy began as a protest against a federal vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers, but it has developed into a larger demonstration against public health measures related to the pandemic.

WATCH | Public safety minister discusses protests:

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said in an interview that aired Sunday that he had heard people questioning whether the federal government would meet with protesters.

"We've been engaging Canadians throughout the pandemic. We put the question of vaccines and vaccine mandates on the ballot, and Canadians had a right to exercise their vote freely in the last election," he told CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton on Rosemary Barton Live.

"We do need to see that the laws are enforced at the end of the day. We're a country that is based on the rule of law," Mendicino said. He also hinted that support may be coming from the federal government for the city or for local businesses that have had to close their doors for the past week due to security concerns.

"I think we are working closely with the city to look at providing some support for those who have been impacted. I know that shops and businesses have been closed, and I know that those discussions are ongoing," he said.

The protests have also received significant rhetorical endorsements from politicians south of the border, including former U.S. president Donald Trump. Ottawa police say they are aware of American funding for the protests as well.

"This is no place for Americans to involve themselves in these kinds of activities," Bruce Heyman, a former U.S. ambassador to Canada, told CBC News on Sunday.

The Ottawa police force also noted on Sunday that it is "actively working with Canadian, U.S. and international security agencies … to investigate email-based threats to public officials."

Finances in flux

On Friday, crowdfunding platform GoFundMe announced it would be stopping payments through the main convoy fundraising page, which by then had received more than $10 million in donations.

The company deleted the fundraising page from its website, saying the protest violates a rule in its terms of service that prohibits the promotion of violence and harassment.

Along with the disruption caused by blockages and noise, protesters have displayed symbols of hate, including the Confederate flag and swastikas.

Convoy organizers have instead pointed potential donors toward a Christian fundraising site. As of Sunday morning, organizers had received more than $2.5 million US in donations on that site.