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Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Federal Government on Thursday said as it opens it’s sky for international flights on Saturday, September 5th, Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, Ethihad airlines, Air Rwanda, Air Namibia among others were banned from coming into the country.
The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika explained that KLM and Air France are not approved to fly into the country because those with tourists visas are not allowed entry.
Speaking at the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja ay the international wing of Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Sirika said all aviation preparations and COVID-19 protocols have been perfected and the airport was set for reopening.
Those allowed to fly with appropriate COVID-19 protocols are British Airlines, Delta, Emirates, Quarter, Middle East, Turkish, Egypt Air, Ethiopian Airlines, Virgin Atlantic among others.
The minister further noted that intending passengers must register online, pay for COVID-19 test fee and upload the COVID-19 negative result not older than 72 hours before boarding.
While warning against sharp practices, he said any airline caught with passengers without COVID-19 negative result would be punished as the airlines would pay $3500 fine for each passenger and the passenger returned of he or she was a foreigner.
Giving more insights into the reasons for ban and the principle of reciprocity been applied to some countries, the minister said Nigeria was simply following what each country have done to the country.
He said the country will go ahead and implement the principle of reciprocity to all countries that have banned flights from Nigeria.
Some of the countries which have already banned flights from Nigeria are in the European Union (EU) as the EU included Nigeria on the banned countries on the first of July, 2020 when they opened their airspace.
Before the commencement of the briefing, the PTF team had undertaken an inspection of the airport which have been adequately marked for social distancing, with necessary signals placed across the airport.
Also, hand sanitizers, water for hand washing and all necessary non pharmaceuticals protocols have been installed at the airports in readiness for the resumption of flights.
