The Federal Government has signalled that restrictions on local flights may be lifted from June 21.
This was revealed by the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika during the daily briefing of the presidential task force on COVID-19. He said stakeholders in the industry should start to prepare to accommodate the new realities occasioned by the pandemic as operations resume.
“The aircrafts have been parked for three months, we have to ensure that within now and that time, these aeroplanes are good and safe to fly, The maintenance for aircrafts is either usage or calendar time,” the Minister said.
Hadi Sirika also revealed that pilots and members of the cabin crew will be made to undergo medical tests as well as renewal of licenses before domestic flights resume.
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The national coordinator of the PTF, Sani Aliyu however said the resumption date was not sacrosanct.
“When we say from June 21, we mean that we are preparing the aviation sector towards that date. That date may not necessarily be June 21, it could be June 26, 28 or even July 1”.
“It depends on whether or not they are prepared. So we are giving them a time frame of three weeks to start preparing for domestic flights.
“Once we open up the skies to domestic flights then we would have to review the arrangements regarding interstate travel because you cannot have a ban on interstate travel and you have people flying from one state to another.
“We are giving an opportunity for the aviation sector that is heavily regulated to make sure that they start getting their acts together so that airports open up in a safe way.” he added.
Passengers would also be made to wear face masks or shields and maintain social distancing during flights.
Hadi Sirika added that the resumption of international flights will depend on directives from the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
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