FG may resume domestic flights on June 21- Minister

The federal government says the restrictions placed on domestic flights may be lifted on June 21.

Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika announced this at the daily briefing of the presidential task force for COVID-19, on Monday.

He said the industry stakeholders should start developing protocols towards flight resumption.

According to him, “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.’’

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The Aviation Minister also explained that pilots and other members of the cabin crew would be required to undergo medicals and license renewed ahead of resumption.

Similarly, the national coordinator of the presidential task force on COVID-19, Sani Aliyu, said: “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.’’

He explained that,“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.’’

Passengers would be required to wear masks or face shields, maintain physical distancing.