Nigeria-based airlines/aircrew wishing to conduct flight operations outside the country will henceforth be required to ensure orientation and sensitisation of crew on Infection, Prevention and Control (IPC) measures as per training and guidance from public health authorities.
Also, flight crew will no longer be quarantined but undergo mandatory testing for COVID-19 every 14 days at cost to the air operator upon return to Nigeria, and flight crew members who test positive for COVID-19 will be taken to a treatment centre for further management.
The airlines/aircrew must ensure they have adequate stock of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), minimum 70 percent alcohol-based hand sanitisers and Universal Precaution Kits (UPK) on board aircraft before the flight, and also ensure flight crew wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and observe IPC measures for the duration of the flight.
This is according to the COVID-19 Pandemic Public Health Protocols for Nigerian-based crew operating international flights released by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
A letter to all operators, airports and other service providers with reference NCAA/DG/AIR/11/16/120, dated May 27, 2020 and signed by Musa Nuhu, director general, NCAA, said the new protocol approved by Federal Ministry of Health replaces the current practice where Nigerian based flight crew members who operate international flights are quarantined for 14 days upon their return to Nigeria.
According to the NCAA, flight deck crew must wear non-medical face mask and gloves and face mask can be removed when the cockpit door is closed for safety reasons, and for cabin crew, they must wear non-medical face mask, gloves, disposal surgical gowns and safety visors/goggles.
If the flight crew will have to lay over in a foreign country to enable them observe crew duty time rest period, “the air operator is to coordinate with the foreign country’s public health authorities at the airport and implement the following: commute arrangements (between airport & hotel if required): the air operator should arrange for the commute between the aircraft and the crew’s individual hotel rooms ensuring hygiene methods are applied and the recommended physical distancing adopted, including within the vehicle to the extent possible”.
“At accommodation: At all times, crew must comply with local public health regulations and policies. One crew member to one room, which is sanitised prior to occupancy,” it said.
It said crew, “taking account of the above and in so far as is practicable, should: avoid contact with the public and fellow crew members and remain in the hotel room except to seek medical attention, or for essential activities including exercise, while respecting physical distancing requirements; not use the common facilities in the hotel, like bars, gyms, etc.”
The NCAA is also currently looking at restarting domestic travel by resuming flight operations in four or five airport soon.
The Federal Government had suspended flight operations on March 2020 in a bid to curtail the spread of coronavirus.
At a webinar conference organised by Aviation Round Table, Nuhu, the NCAA director-general, and Fola Akinkuotu, managing director, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), put forward the idea of restarting domestic travel with four or five airports in a bid not to choke the system.
Nuhu, who initiated the conversation, said air transport must be safe and not become part of spreading the coronavirus.
He stated that physical distancing is an issue and discussions were still on because of the issue of vacating the middle seat.
“We may resume domestic operations with four or five airports and we will expand as we get better. We don’t want to rush everything at the same time and get it choked up,” Nuhu said.
“If you do that extra expenses and airlines need money, every money is important and we cannot achieve the two metres physical distance but we are hopeful in the next few days we can resolve that,” he said.
He said the team had discussed what the sub-sector (airlines, ground handlers, service providers, etc) need and forwarded to Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation, for approval.
”We have made our suggestion and recommendations and we are awaiting feedback. We may not get all we requested as you know but we are hopeful,” he said.
Akinkuotu stressed that aviation survived the security challenges of 9/11 and expressed belief the sector would survive COVID-19.
