The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) on Thursday said the resumption of international flights earlier scheduled for August 29th has been moved to September 5 because of non-aeronautical logistics that needed to be put in place.
Speaking at the briefing of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 in Abuja on Thursday, NCAA Director-General, Capt Musa Nuhu, said since the announcement of August 29th date for resumption of international flights by the Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika, the authorities have worked to ensure that everything is in place before the 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 FG on July 8 opened the airspace and airports for domestic flight operations.
