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As part of efforts to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Nigeria, the Federal Government has said that Air France, KLM airline, and 8 other airlines would not be allowed to operate in in the Nigerian airspace when international flights resume on September 5.
Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, made the announcement during the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 briefing at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International airport, Abuja, on Thursday.
The affected airlines are 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 is not allowed into Nigeria because South Africa is 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, AWA Ghana, Middle East Airlines, and Kenya Airways.
For Abuja, Sirika said the airlines allowed to operate international flights include: British Airways, Emirates, Ethiopian, AWA Ghana, Middle East, Turkish Airlines 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 trave.
“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 added that all intending passengers must register online via the Nigeria International Portal, pay for a COVID-19 PCR test fee 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 would be fined $3500 per passenger.
Sirika, meanwhile, announced that for Nigerians that contravene this section, the passenger would be quarantined for 14 day, adding that the passenger would bear the cost of food and other services while under isolation.
“Any airline that allows passengers with less than four days coronavirus certificate to board their flight will be sanctioned accordingly. The passenger would be refused entry into the country and the airline will bear the cost of airlifting the passenger back to their country,” the minister added.