The Federal Government on Thursday shifted the resumption date for the commencement of international flights into and out of Nigeria from August 29, 2020, to September 5, 2020.
Recall that the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, had announced on August 17, 2020, that international flights would resume on August 29, following pressures from the public for the resumption of the flights.
But at Thursday’s briefing by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja, the Director-General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Musa Nuhu, declared that international flights would not resume as earlier announced.
He said September 5, 2020 was picked as the new date for international flights resumption, stressing that there were still issues to be sorted out before allowing international carriers to operate into and out of Nigeria.
“Regret to announce that the international flight resumption earlier scheduled to resume on 29th August has been shifted to 5th September 2020,” the Federal Ministry of Aviation also tweeted.
When Sirika last week Monday announced that international flights into and out of Nigeria would resume on August 29, the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 said that the date was not sacrosanct.
International flights were suspended by the Federal Government across the country about five months as a result of the global outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
He further disclosed that like it was done during the resumption of domestic flights across the country, the international flights would commence with two major airports.
He named the airports as the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, and the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
Sirika said emphasis would be placed on the observation of all the safety and technical guidelines as prescribed by global and health authorities, which would be communicated in due course.
