FG Says Local Airlines to Begin Operations on June 21

• FG Says Local Airlines to Begin Operations on June 21

President Muhammadu Buhari has eased restrictions imposed on local airlines, according to a statement from Sani Aliyu, the National Coordinator of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.

Aliyu disclosed this on Monday during the daily briefing in Abuja.

He said, “The aviation industry is requested to start developing protocols to allow for domestic flights to resume anytime from the 21st of June onwards.

“Airlines must ensure physical distancing by reducing passenger capacity and ensure the provision of sanitisers and personal protective equipment as well as carrying out temperature checks at the point of entry and departure and ensuring that airports are not congested by either travellers or airports staff.”

In March, President Muhammadu Buhari had directed that all the nation’s airports be closed to curb COVID-19 spread and later extended the closure by another four weeks.

A decision Minister of Aviation, Hadi Siriki, said is costing the nation’s airlines about N17 billion per month.

He said “Certainly in civil aviation, we’re in very difficult moments like everyone else…but we are worst hit than any other sector. Some N17bn monthly is being lost by the Airlines to COVID-19.”

Stakeholders, including the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), asked President Muhammadu Buhari administration to make bailout of the aviation sector a priority.