We are thrilled by the news that domestic flights is to resume in Nigeria. The government of Nigerian has approved the reopening of domestic flights; resumption will be in line with existing international and local Covid-19 guidelines.
Chairman of the Presidential Task Force announcement
Boss Mustapha, Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, made this announcement at its bi-weekly briefing on Monday. Unfortunately the resumption of flight operations will come with an increase in airfares.
Mustapha explained that the increase of products and services was not peculiar to the aviation sector. “Prices of things have surged since the coronavirus outbreak; prices have increased generally. The prices of things prior to COVID-19 is different from what it used to be. Even in the market, things have increased. That is the difficult thing that is going to confront us as a people and because of the protocols that are going to be introduced in the whole aviation business, you will definitely expect an increase in the prices,” explained Mustapha.
Testing airport facilities
In order to reduce the spread of Covid-19, Nigeria shut its airports, except for essential flights, in March. The PTF originally announced that some domestic flights would resume on 21st June but the aviation ministry said it needed more time to prepare. On Saturday the ministry conducted a test run of airports facilities to determine their readiness for the resumption of domestic flight operations.
Mustapha said the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has already increased its customer service fares by hundred per cent. He said this review in fare is expected in government institutions responsible for managing the aviation industry.
“FAAN has already increased its customer service fare by one hundred per cent. It used to be a thousand naira for customer service but I think it has increased to N2000 and that is even before the operation starts. So, it is not only the airlines.”
“Even government institutions who have the responsibility of managing the aviation industry will review their charges because that is the nature of what COVID-19 has thrust on the people of the country and all over the world.”
He also said that social distancing measures also have an influence on the airfare increase. “There is also going to be the maintenance of social distancing in aircrafts. If an aircraft has a capacity of 150 people, they might now be restricted to about a 100 or 75 passengers. Flying comes with a component of costs. Aviation fuel is one, salaries for the pilots, services that are paid for to the aviation industry institutions are also things to consider. Every time you see a plane take off, there is an attendant cost to that. Who will bear the cost? It will be shared; the passengers will take part of it and the business owners will also take part in the cost and you know that nobody runs a business at a loss.”
The PTF chairman said the federal government will assist the aviation industry “at a time the world is fighting this pandemic. I believe that the aviation industry is one of the industries that is hard hit by this COVID-19 because it is an industry that is designed for moving people up and down and for the last three months, they have not been able to do anything.”
Approved extension of phased lockdown
Mustapha also said that President Muhammadu Buhari approved the extension of the phased lockdown for four weeks, meaning the 10pm to 4am nationwide curfew restrictions on mass gatherings and sporting activities will continue. Nigeria’s mandate for face masks in public places remains in effect.
Members of the Covid-19 taskforce did an inspection tour of the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja and expressed satisfaction with the level of preparedness for their reopening.
‘…automatic temperature screening points…’
Shortly after inspecting the Abuja Airport, members of the Taskforce on COVID-19 arrived at the Lagos Airport aboard an Aero Contractor’s test flight to assess the level of preparedness at the General Aviation Terminal. They inspected both the departure and arrival areas of the airports to assess the social distancing measures put in place. The boarding and waiting areas were clearly marked for passengers to observe social distancing, while the toilets have automatic hand washing points. In addition, automatic sanitizer dispensers were provided at every point of boarding and there are automatic temperature screening points.
Lagos and Abuja Airports
The committee confirmed Lagos and Abuja airports 90 to 95 per cent satisfactory with what they have on ground and the only thing left to be done at the airport was the surface cleaning and installation of baggage spray machines which are confirmed to be ready. In conclusion the monitoring team expressed satisfaction with the level of preparation by the aviation sector to restart, saying the stakeholders have done very well.
