The Federal government has shifted the resumption date of international flights to September 5.
Hadi Sirikia, the Minister of Aviation, had earlier announced that the date for resumption for International flights was Saturday, August 29. Read here.
However, at the daily briefing of the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 in Abuja on Thursday August 27, the Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority NCAA, Musa Shuaibu Nuhu, announced that the date has now been moved to September 5.
According to Nuhu, while airlines and airports were ready to operate, other non-aviation logistics were not and this has necessitated the one-week extension.
“We have other non-aviation logistics we are still working on, mostly the COVID-19 protocol tests and online platform. We need to get this ready.”Nuhu said
He stressed that the September 5 as a “sacrosanct date”, noting that “the initial announcement was anytime from the 29th.”
“In due course, we will be announcing the protocols for the resumptions and we will be giving further details. Hopefully early next week, we will release this.”he said
The Nigerian Airspace was shut down in March as part of measures to contain the spread of Coronavirus.