The
resumption date which was earlier scheduled for August 29, 2020, has now been
moved to September 5, 2020.
The Federal
Government of Nigeria has changed the resumption date for the commencement of
international flights into and out of the country.
The
Director-General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Musa Nuhu, announced the
change of date at Thursday’s briefing by the Presidential Task Force.
Minister of
Aviation, Hadi Sirika, had announced on August 17, 2020, that international
flights would resume on August 29.
However, Nuhu
stated that September 5, 2020, was picked because there were still issues to be
sorted out before allowing international carriers to operate into and out of
Nigeria.
Nuhu said,
“Since the announcement by the honourable minister of aviation a few weeks ago
that international flights will resume anytime from the 29th of August, the
aviation sector has worked assiduously to be ready for this date.
“The aviation
sector including the airports is ready to resume on the 29th. However, we have
other non-aviation logistics we are still working on mostly to do with the
Covid-19 protocols, tests, and online platforms. We need to get this in place
so that we will have a smooth and efficient resumption of international flights
without difficulties for all the passengers.
“So, for this
reason, unfortunately, I have to let you know that the resumption date has been
shifted by one week to the 5th of September which is now a sacrosanct date. The
initial announcement was anytime from August 29. Now we have fixed a date – 5th
of September to ensure that resumption of international flights.
“In due
course, once these logistics are done, we will be announcing the protocols for
the resumption and also we will be giving further details on the principle of
reciprocity we have mentioned. So, hopefully early next week, we will release
this.”
The country’s
airspace and airports had been shut in March to curtail the spread of the
coronavirus pandemic but the federal government on July 8 opened the airspace
and airports for domestic flight operations.
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