FAAN has said that the escorts of VIPs who won’t be travelling with them won’t be allowed into the departure halls of airports.
As the country prepares to reopen its airspace for commercial flights, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has said non-travelling escorts of very important personalities will not be allowed into departure halls.
The Authority stated this on Friday as part of new protocols for the restart of flights amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“COVID-19 Flight Resumption Protocol for Passengers: Escorts coming with VIPs will not be allowed into the departure hall, only travelling passengers,” it tweeted.
FAAN also urged travellers to wear face masks, maintain two metres distance, and arrive at airports at least three hours before flights to ensure proper checks.
Airports in the country were shut to non-essential flights in March as part of measures to curb the spread of the life-threatening disease.
The Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Capt Musa Nuhu, said commercial flights will resume when the sector is fully ready.
At a Presidential Task Force Briefing on COVID-19 in Abuja on Thursday, Nuhu said,
“June 21st is not a feasible date to resume domestic operations.
The civil aviation authority, despite pressures coming from all quarters, will not approve the start any day until we are sure and we confirm that we are ready to start in a safe, secure, organised and efficient manner.
To do otherwise is disastrous for all of us.
If we open the industry when we are not ready, and we are guilty of spreading coronavirus, God forbid we have any incident, I believe the government will come hard on us and it is going to be counterproductive and disastrous for the industry.
We are not too far, we are close but there is a need for timing to ensure that we are ready, positively, absolutely ready to start work.”
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