A baby was born onboard an Emirates airline’s flights en route to Lagos to repatriate Nigerians stranded in the UAE, reported Khaleej Times on Thursday.

After staying in the air for half-an-hour, EK783 flight was diverted back to Dubai International on Wednesday but returned four hour later after the change of the aircraft.

“Emirates can confirm that a passenger travelling on board Emirates flight EK783 gave birth en route from Dubai to Lagos on May 6, 2020. As a result, the flight returned to Dubai International Airport. The aircraft was changed and re-departed for Lagos with a delay of approximately four hours,” an Emirates airline spokesperson said in a statement to Khaleej Times.

The flight departed at around 10:55am on Wednesday and returned 33 minutes later to Dubai International after the woman went into labour.

According to Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 256 Nigerians stranded in the UAE were evacuated from Dubai on Wednesday who arrived at Murtala Muhammad International Airport, Lagos. It is estimated that around 4,000 Nigerians are stranded in different countries around the world and waiting to be evacuated.

“The wellbeing and safety of our passengers and crew are of the utmost importance to Emirates,” the Dubai-based airline said.

Prior to the outbreak of Covid-19 which resulted in cancellation of regular flights, the Dubai-based world’s largest international carrier was operating daily flights to Lagos in Nigeria. Emirates is now operating limited passenger flights to carry travellers outbound from the UAE to some destinations up to June 30, 2020.