Contrary to Nigeria’s aviation regulator, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), extending closure of international airspace till October, Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation, has stated that flight resumption date will be announced in an agreed date.
In his tweeter handle yesterday, Sirika stated, “International flight resumption date is not October. NAMA just issued a routine 90-day Notices to Airmen (NOTAM).
“In liaison with Health, Foreign Affairs & PTF COVID-19, we will announce the agreed date, regardless of the ban by Europe, UAE, etc. May be earlier than October,” Sirika said.
However, the NCAA had issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) stating that it was extending closure of international airspace until October 15, instead of August 19 as previously stated.
A source at NCAA confirmed this development in a telephone interview with BusinessDay, saying international airports would remain closed until October.
He said there was never a time the Federal Government gave a specific date for reopening the airspace for international flight operations, but that the government had previously said the airports would be closed until August.
The Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) however said its attention had been drawn to insinuations making the rounds that Nigerian Airports had been shut to international flights until the middle of October 2020. The agency said such speculations were entirely untrue.
In a statement sent by NAMA and signed by Khalid Emele, corporate communications person of the agency, it stated: “Following the receipt of an All Operators Letter
(NCAA/DG/AIR/11/16/152) from NCAA, the agency issued an Aeronautical Information Circular (AIC) titled ‘Phased Resumption of Domestic Flights’ on 7th July 2020 to the effect that Lagos and Abuja airports will open for domestic flight operations on 8th July, Kano, Port Harcourt, Owerri, Maiduguri and Uyo opens on 11th July and all other airports on 15th July 2020.”
The agency recalled that on July 15, 2020, in line with international standards, it issued a three-month duration NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) (from July 15 to October 15, 2020), stating that the Federal Government of Nigeria had extended the closure of the nation’s airports to all international flights with the exception of aircraft in a state of emergency.
However, approval may be requested and granted to flights, operations related to humanitarian aids, medical relief flights, alternate aerodrome in the flight plan and also those being used for extended diversion time operation, technical landings where passengers do not disembark and cargo flights and other safety-related operations.
“From the foregoing, there was no indication that the closure of Nigerian airports to international flights was from 15th July to 15th October 2020. However, the NOTAM was issued for a minimum duration of three months in view of the fact that a specific date for resumption of international flights has not been confirmed by the minister of aviation or the director-general of NCAA.
“Finally, while the agency looks forward anxiously towards the reopening of Nigerian airports to international flights, we wish to clarify that the import of the said NOTAM and AIC is NOT that Nigerian airports remain closed till 15th October 2020,” the agency stated.
However, before now some airlines were awaiting the Federal Government to announce flight resumption date while others had gone ahead to pick date for flight resumption.
For instance, Virgin Atlantic announced that it would commence flights from Lagos to London Heathrow on August 24, 2020, and will provide connections to a range of US destinations.
It also announced plan to restart passenger flying to 17 additional destinations from August 2020.
“We are also delighted to announce that when we return to Lagos we will be doing so on our new A350-1000 aircraft, which is packed with innovation, thoughtful features, and unmistakable Virgin Atlantic flair. From our new enhanced social space to extra storage, and our latest entertainment system, there’s so much to look forward to,” the airline stated.
Juha Jarvinen, chief commercial officer, Virgin Atlantic, commented: “As countries around the world begin to relax travel restrictions, we look forward to welcoming our customers back onboard and flying them safely to many destinations across our network. From 20th July we will resume services to New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong then from 1st August onwards, we will resume passenger flying to 17 additional destinations around the world including Lagos, Tel Aviv, Atlanta, Mumbai and Las Vegas.
“However, we are monitoring external conditions extremely closely, in particular the travel restrictions many countries have in place including the 14 day quarantine policy for travellers entering the UK. We know that as the Covid-19 crisis subsides, air travel will be a vital enabler of the UK’s economic recovery. Therefore, we are calling for UK Government to continually review its quarantine measures and instead look at a multi-layered approach of carefully targeted public health and screening measures, including air bridges, which will support a successful and safe restart of international air travel for passengers and businesses.”
