Evacuation flights end as IATA releases health assessment rules
By Chukwuemeke Iwelunmo
All evacuation flights introduced in the wake of coronavirus that led to the closure of international airspace will come to an end today Tuesday, August 25th, 2020.
As a result, many countries raced against time to conclude scheduled evacuation flights while allowing citizens to plan their scheduled travels themselves.
A source who works with a European country said they need to speed up all arrangements to bring to an end emergency flights in line with the pronouncement of the Federal Government to end such flights today, Tuesday, Daily Times gathered.
Since the closure of airspace on March 23rd, 2020, many people only travelled under the emergency evacuation programme of the government which allowed operations of cargoes, medical equipment and travel by people who wanted to be with their families among others.
Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika made the announcement on the micro-blogging site, Twitter on last Monday.
“Glad to announce the resumption of international flights from August 29, 2020, “Beginning with Lagos and Abuja as we did with the domestic flight resumption,” he tweeted The Minister of Aviation added that all protocols must be observed.
“Protocols and procedures will be announced in due course. We thank you for your patience,” he added.
The Minister said Nigeria’s international airports have Reached advanced stages of preparedness for the resumption of international flight operations.
Meanwhile, Director, Public Affairs, Ministry of Aviation, Dr James Odaudu said, as a result, all evacuation flights which were introduced in the country in the wake of the ban on international flights occasioned by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic will end on 25th August 2020.
He further disclosed that like it was done during the resumption of domestic flights across the country, international flights would commence with the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja and the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos.
Emphasis, he stated, will be placed on the observation of all the safety and technical guidelines as prescribed by global and health authorities which will be communicated in due course.
Preparations are in top gear by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, ahead of reopening of the Murtala Mohammed International airport Lagos.
To this end, some top Management staff of the agency inspected Covid-19 facilities at the airport to ascertain their preparedness for resumption.
The South West airports manager and MMIA airport Manager, Mrs Victoria Shinaba who conducted the management staff round the airport said it is still work in progress.
Manager, Public Affairs, Mrs Henrietta Yakubu said the floor markings and barricades outside the terminal had been done.
“We are installing hand sanitizer dispensers, hand washing contactless taps and the luggage area disinfection is also been worked.”
Work on the male and female convenience, as well as lighting, is also reported to be ongoing.
In a related development, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) released an airline self-assessment health checklist to support the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) takeoff guidance for air travel through the COVID-19 public health crisis.
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The Take-off guidance is the global standard framework of risk-based temporary measures for governments and the air transport value chain for safe operations during the COVID-19 crisis.
“Safety is always the number one priority for air transport. And the challenges of COVID-19 have added a new dimension to our efforts”, said IATA’s Director General and CEO, Alexandre de Juniac.
