Air France, Lufthansa, Ethihad airlines, Air Rwanda, Air Namibia, among others, have been banned from coming into Nigeria as international flights resume on Saturday, September 5, 2020.
The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, made this known on Thursday in Abuja during the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force, PTF, on COVID-19.
He gave an insight into the reasons for the ban and the principle of reciprocity being applied to some countries.
According to him, Nigeria was simply following what each country had done to it.
He said for the resumption of flights, all aviation preparations and COVID-19 protocols had been perfected and the airport was set for reopening.
He, however, said that British Airways, Delta, Emirates, Qatar, Middle East, Turkish, Egypt Air, Ethiopian Airlines, Virgin Atlantic were among the airlines approved for operations with appropriate COVID-19 protocols.
Sirika 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 fined $3500 for each passenger and the passenger returned if he or she was a foreigner.
On the ban placed on some airlines, The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports that the principle of reprocity means that all countries that have banned flights from Nigeria, will also have planes from their countries banned from entry into 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.
An inspection of the airport showed that all areas had been adequately marked for social distancing, with necessary signals placed across the airport.
Also, hand sanitisers, water for hand washing and all necessary non pharmaceutical protocols had been installed at the airports in readiness for the resumption of flights.
Meanwhile, the Chairman, PTF on COVID-19, Mr Boss Mustapha, expressed worry over increasing cases of COVID-19 in Ethiopia and South Africa.
According to him, South Africa still has the highest case count in Africa but has fallen from the fifth to the sixth position in the world.
“In Ethiopia, the numbers have been on the increase.
“Both South Africa and Ethiopia are of interest to Nigeria in view of the passenger traffic between Nigeria and the two countries and our plans to reopen the international air space,” Mustapha said.
