THE Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has announced that international flights will resume operations on August 29.
Flight operations, according to him, will begin in and out of two airports – Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos and Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja.
Procedures to be observed by passengers would be announced in due course, the minister said.
He spoke in Abuja, on Monday, during the briefing by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.
The minister said apart from the standard test passengers would have to undergo before boarding flights into Nigeria, they would also undergo another test eight days after arrival in the country.
Following the lifting of the ban on international flights, evacuation flights, introduced as a result of the COVID-19 induced ban, will stop operating on August 25, according to the minister.
On protocols, he said, “What we have become used to – physical distancing, wearing of a mask, washing of hands and temperature checks – will continue. In the beginning, there will be four flights into Abuja and Lagos daily; we will give further details on that. This is a decision that was taken by the PTF and not that by the Aviation Ministry alone.
“Very close to your departure dates, you will take a COVID test where you are coming from and then, of course, you would go online to fill the health questionnaire so that you don’t bother yourself filling long forms while you arrive or in the aircraft.”
Sirika added, “There will also be a portal that we will open. Prior to your departure, you will pay through that platform for the test to be done here in Nigeria after your arrival. This means that just before you depart, you take a test and when you are negative and not showing any signs of COVID-19, we will board you on the flight.
“When you arrive in Nigeria, you will go through the protocols and exit the airport, and the eighth day after your arrival, which we consider the incubation period, you will take a test. They will pay for the testing before they board and it will be on a platform online and it will give them options of what to do and then the test will be done after eight days.”
According to him, when the protocols are applied gradually, there may be no need to take passengers’ passports at the airports.
“In all of this, there is a national air transportation facilitation committee that involves all aviation stakeholders. We are all working on the protocols and it will be released once it is approved by the PTF,” he noted.
The minister however said the aircraft had been safe so far, noting that no one had contracted the virus while onboard.
He refuted allegations that some airport officials collect bribe to produce negative COVID-19 test results for passengers.
He said, “I think it is unfair. I understand that it is something new now. People tend to believe what they read online. The person who claimed that his family paid an airport official ought to have stated the agency official that was paid because there are so many agencies at the airport.
“By giving the bribe also, the person is a culprit. Please, be fair in your judgment. I am not saying there is no corruption; there is corruption everywhere in the world and in every single country. But be factual in your claims or allegation.”
