Chinelo Obogo
The Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Musa Nuhu, has said that incoming passengers would have to pay for COVID19 tests 48-72 hours before arriving Nigeria from August 29.
During an interview on Arise Television, he said the country is still expectant that a vaccine for for virus would be produced but that till then, the country would adhere strictly to all the COVID19 protocols for incoming international passengers.
“For the arrival, there won’t be much hassles but for the departure, you would be be required to run COVID19 tests 48 to 72 hours before you arrive. Then seven or eight days after you arrive Nigeria, you would be required to take another test. The cost of the tests would be borne by the passenger,” Nuhu said.
Many countries have set up strict COVID19 policies for passengers flying in, but countries like Britain which has one of the highest influxes of passengers into Nigeria have lax protocols.
It is not mandatory for passengers flying to UK to carry out COVID19 tests on arrival. Also, there is no nationwide airport screening/measures for passenger arrivals and there never has been.
There is also no working contact tracing for passenger arrivals.
For Nigeria however, the NCAA said all passengers coming into the country irrespective of where they are coming from must take COVID19 tests before and after arrival.
The Minister of Aviation, Captain Hadi Sirika, had announced that international flights would resume on Saturday, August 29.
He made the announcement on Monday, August 17, on his official Twitter handle, saying that flights will begin with the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja and the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
“Glad to announce the resumption of international flights from the 29th of August, 2020. Beginning with Lagos and Abuja as we did with the domestic flight resumption. Protocols and procedures will be announced in due course. We thank you for your patience,” Sirika said.
He further clarified that four flights would land in Lagos while four would land in Abuja on the day that flights resume.
Nigeria placed travel restrictions on international flights into the country on March 21, after the country’s coronavirus cases doubled from 12-22. The airport closure was meant to last one month but as cases grew globally, the date of resumption got postponed.