Following the planned resumption of domestic flights, as hinted by the federal government slated for June 21st, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has approved the reopening of about five airports for a start. The Director-General of the NCAA, Capt Musa Nuhu, revealed this in a letter to Accountable Managers of all domestic and foreign airlines in Nigeria. DailyTrust reported that the letter was dated 1st June 2020 with reference number NCAA/DG/AIR/11/16/121.
The letter went further to list out the airports approved for the operations as; Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos; Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja; Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa Rivers state; Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano and finally Sam Mbakwe Airport Owerri.
The DG further disclosed in the letter that “Other airports will gradually follow suits after review and assessment”. He stated that all flights to any of the airport not stated in the above letter must be brought before the COVID-19 for approval.
Meanwhile, access for international flights remains banned until further review. However, the letter highlighted that emergency and essential flights are an exception to the letter but shall comply with the COVID-19 protocols for approval.
Nigerian airports have been shut since March 27 as part of measures to arrest the spread of coronavirus pandemic.
