FG to limit inbound int’l flight passengers to 1280

• FG will ban countries that have banned Nigerians

International inbound passengers will be limited to 1280, the Federal Government has declared.

According to the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, only 1280 passengers will be allowed to fly into Murtala Muhammed International airport in Lagos and Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport in Abuja when international flight operations commence on August 29.

The Task Force also noted it will ban countries that have banned Nigerians and its residence from flying into it.

The PTF also disclosed it was yet to decide on the amount to be paid by international passengers for COVID-19 test upon arrival.

These were disclosed in Abuja on Thursday by the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika during the briefing by members of the PTF on COVID-19.

The Minister, who was represented by the Director-General of Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Musa Nuhu said: “We are going to start partially with Lagos and Abuja airports and we are going to restrict the number of passengers coming in initially to about 1280 both to Lagos and Abuja airport while other logistics are being put in place before we ramp the number of passengers that will be allowed to come in.

“So, we are working on the logistics and the process on how to determine which flights will be allowed to come and that should be done by tomorrow and hopefully, by Monday we will get everything in place.”

On the ban placed on Nigerians from flying into certain countries, the Minister said: “The conditions you give Nigerians who travel to your country will be applied. If you ban us from coming to your country, the same will apply the other way.”

On whether flight crew will be quarantined on arrival, he said: “The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) does not recommend quarantine of crew.

“What we have in place is that the crew goes to the hotel, they stay in their hotel rooms and they isolate from mixing and whenever they are ready, they go to the airports and they jump into the plane and go.

“Most of the crew stay in Nigeria for just a day and some airlines and countries demand that the crew have a COVID test before they fly and they are also required to provide their health information.”

On the amount to be paid for the COVID-19 tests after eight days on arrival by international passengers, the National Coordinator, Dr. Sani Aliyu said: “We are still working on the platforms and as soon as that is available, it will probably be a competitive process and hopefully, that will reduce the cost for passengers.”