The Nigerian government on Thursday banned 10 airlines from operating in its airspace when international flights resume tomorrow, September 5.
The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, who disclosed this during a briefing by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja, listed the affected airlines as Air France, KLM, Etihad Airways, RwandAir, Air Namibia, Royal Air Maroc, Lufthansa, Cabo Verde, TAAG Angola and South African Airways.
Sirika said Air France and KLM airlines were not granted approval for flight operations because “tourist visa holders are not allowed entry”. He also said South African Airways are not allowed into Nigeria because South Africa are yet to resume international flights in their country.
He said the airlines approved for international flights in Lagos are British Airways, Delta, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Africa World Airlines (AWA) Ghana, Middle East, and Kenya Airways.
For Abuja, Sirika said the airlines allowed to operate international flights include: British Airways, Emirates, Ethiopian, AWA Ghana, Middle East, Turkish and Egypt Air.
The Minister said Asky and Air Peace have also been approved to commence international flights.
“I think we have done very well so far so they won’t have any reason to disallow Nigerians to travel. What we have done is to review the issues, what have they done to us. In the case of Britain, they said when you come, we quarantine you and we also said when you come, we will also quarantine you,” he said.
Sirika said all intending passengers must register online via the Nigeria international portal, pay for a COVID-19 PCR test and upload their COVID-19 negative result not more than 72 hours before boarding.
He reiterated that any airline caught with passengers without a COVID-19 negative test result will be fined $3,500 per passenger.
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