Nigerian govt postpones resumption of international flights till Sept 5

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Captain Musa Nuhu

Michael Adeshina

The Federal Government of Nigeria has changed the resumption date for the commencement of international flights into and out of the country.

The resumption date which was earlier scheduled for August 29, 2020, has now been moved to September 5, 2020.

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.