The Federal Government, through the Aviation Minister has stated that only airlines from countries that allow flights from Nigeria will be allowed to fly in and out of Nigeria when International flights resume.
It specifically stated that airlines from the European Union would not be allowed into Nigeria as the EU had recently banned flights from Nigeria.
It would be recalled that the Council of the European Union recently had its borders opened to 15 countries, excluding Nigeria.
While Speaking at the briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, who was represented by the DG, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Capt Musa Nuhu said Nigeria’s position was informed by the ban placed by some countries on flights from Nigeria.
He stated that, “On the list of countries banned, we are working on the comprehensive list, but the main one that came up is when the EU opened their borders effective 1st July, 2020 and Nigeria was among the list of 54 countries that were not allowed to enter the EU”.
“To my understanding, as the situation changes, they are going review the list, but as we open our airspace, we are going to apply the issue of reciprocity to those (EU) countries.”
He further stated “that airlines would be informed on arrangements that had been put in place to ensure that the resumption of flights were hitch-free”.
He said only 1,280 inbound International passengers would be allowed to fly into the Lagos and Abuja airports once international flights resume on August 29, 2020.
