Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika has announced that Nigeria will open its airspace on August 29, 2020, after a six-month closure.
According to him, the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos (MMIA) and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja (NAIA) will be the first to be reopened.
The Minister in a tweet on his official handle @hadisirika wrote, “Glad to announce the resumption of international flights from the 29th of August, 2020. Beginning with Lagos and Abuja as we did with the domestic flight resumption. Protocols and procedures will be announced in due course. We thank you for your patience.â€
Earlier on Monday, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) top echelons were sited at the Murtala Muhammed International airport Lagos gearing up for the reopening.
Some staff of the agency also inspected COVID-19 facilities at the airport to ascertain their preparedness for resumption.
This announcement may as well put minds at ease as the recent clamour for the reopening of the Nigerian airspace had skyrocketed over the months.
In a statement signed by Director, Public Affairs, Ministry of Aviation, James Odaudu, international flights were suspended by the nation’s Aviation authorities in the country as a result of the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic globally, on 23rd March 2020.
As a result, all evacuation flights which were introduced in the country in the wake of the ban on international flights occasioned by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic will end on 25th August 2020.
Minister of Aviation Senator Hadi Sirika who announced this at Monday’s briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, said Nigeria’s international airports have reached advanced stages of preparedness for the resumption of international flight operations.
He further disclosed that, like it was done during the resumption of domestic flights across the country, the international flights will commence with the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja and the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos.
The emphasis, he stated, will be placed on the observation of all the safety and technical guidelines as prescribed by global and health authorities which will be communicated in due course.