Domestic airlines experienced low patronage as flights resumed on Wednesday at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA2) Lagos, General Aviation Terminal (GAT) domestic terminal, Lagos, and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja amid strict safety protocols.
Airlines that operated include Air Peace, Arik Air, Max Air and Ibom Air on Lagos-Abuja routes with about 50-60 percent load factor.
For instance, Arik’s Air’s 7:15 am Lagos-Abuja flight carried 78 passengers with a Boeing 737 aircraft which would have carried an average of 150 passengers even with the social distance requirement.
On its second Lagos-Abuja flight, the airline carried about 80 passengers.
Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) only cleared six airlines to restart domestic flights while others are still going through certain documentation process to ascertain payment of their insurance and that of their staff.
A visit to the Lagos airport showed passengers adhering to COVID-19 safety protocols: wearing of face masks, social distancing, use of hand sanitisers, and checking of body temperatures.
Passengers said they were impressed with the level of compliance with guidelines aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19 and hope it is sustained.
Aisha Khalid, one of the passengers on Max Air at the Lagos airport, told BusinessDay that she was very happy with the flight resumption and the protocols initiated by the airport authority to ensure passengers are protected from contracting COVID-19.
“My flight will take off by 11 am but I left the house by 6 am just to ensure I get to the airport in time and keep to the rules of being there three hours before take-off.
“I am impressed with what I see at the airport. Everything is working perfectly fine. Social distancing is implemented and the screening is perfect,” Khalid said.
Passengers on the first flight from Lagos who arrived Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport Abuja Wednesday morning said all Covid-19 safety measures were observed and strictly adhered to while onboard.
Speaking with BussinessDay, Jibril Sani, one of the passengers said “the level of adherence was high, a lot of distancing, temperature check, hand washing and sanitising”.
Some passengers, however, were dissatisfied with time management by the airport authorities.
“The journey was hectic. Imagine staying at the airport for four hours before flights! We were told the flight would be leaving by 7 am but we took off by 10. Though safety measures were taken, there is need to improve on the timing,” a passenger said.
BussinessDay also observed that the first flights which arrived Abuja airports had few passengers as some complained over a high fare.
The managing director of FAAN, Rabiu Yadudu, responding to the increase in air ticket, said it was a necessary development, for health purposes.
“The airlines are in business and if you are compelled to reduce your capacity, in terms of your revenue, it is expected for them to come up with new adaptability to ensure they do not run into a loss. it is all in the interest of our safety and security,” he said.
Following the approval for resumption of flight operations, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) released new procedural guidelines for air travelers and other airport users. The new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is aimed at protecting all stakeholders and preventing further spread of the Covid-19 virus, Henrietta Yakubu, general manager, corporate affairs, FAAN, said in a statement.
However, domestic airlines raised fares by almost 50 percent ahead of flight resumption on July 8.
BusinessDay’s check of airfares ahead of the flight resumption shows that a one-way ticket from Lagos to major destinations such as Abuja, Port Harcourt, or Owerri which cost between N22,000 and N28,000 now costs between N33,000 and N41,000, indicating a 48 percent increase.
For instance, a one-way ticket from Lagos to Abuja on Arik Air costs N32,699; for Dana it costs N35,099, and on AirPeace it costs N40,299.
Nigeria’s leading airline, Air Peace, urged its customers to embrace online booking and check-in, employing its user-friendly Mobile App, as a means of minimising physical contact.
In a statement released to journalists, the airline’s spokesperson, Stanley Olisa, disclosed that Air Peace has put in place reliable measures to protect both passengers and staff pre-flight, in-flight and post-flight, adding that the flying public need not worry but comply with all health protocols. He said the airline has thoroughly disinfected all its aircraft and the flight crew are current as well as COVID-19 conscious.
“If you’ve been following our social media platforms, you will have seen robust sensitisation content in form of videos showing what is expected of our passengers in this COVID-19 dispensation,” Olisa stated.
He stressed that passengers must always wear their face masks before entering the airport terminal and on board, and are expected to submit themselves for temperature checks before boarding.
Dana Air announced the resumption of its flight services on July 9.
The airline said it will operate three daily flights from Lagos to Abuja and back while the date for the addition of Port Harcourt and Owerri will be announced later.
Obi Mbanuzuo, the Chief Operating Officer of Dana Air, while speaking on the preparedness of the airlines said, ” Dana Air is ready to fly safely again from the 9th of July. We have worked round the clock with the NCAA to achieve this safe resumption of flights and we are introducing other initiatives soon in line with the present realities and the need to minimize contacts at the airport.
“We have disinfected all our aircraft, provided all our staff with the recommended Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), alcohol-based hand sanitizers have been made available at our check-in, boarding gates and onboard the aircraft for guests and we have an optimized cleaning protocol in place as recommended by the World Health Organisation, (WHO), and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). We have also created a boarding strategy which will give our passengers some sense of safety onboard our aircraft.”
Aero Contractors said that it will also be scheduled to start flight operation on July 9, 2020.
The airline said that it chose to resume flight service a day after the official restart date in order to stagger flight schedule to ensure that airport facilities were not stretched beyond COVID-19 protocol guidelines.
The management of Aero explained that contrary to some media reports that indicated the airline was denied approval to operate, it has received its approval from the NCAA and it would start operations tomorrow.
