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| Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika |
Aides of Very Important Persons (VIPs) and politicians without business traveling will no longer be allowed to enter the airports when domestic flights would resume, Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika said on Thursday.
Sirika spoke at an interactive session with members of the Senate Committee on Aviation while responding to questions on protocols put in place to stop further spread of COVID-19 pandemic.
The minister said: โWe have circulated this information and Mr. President has approved it.
โAll those who have no business traveling will certainly have no business to enter the airport. They will not enter the airport, not at all.
โSo, anybody coming into the airport this time around as a personality, a minister or even our honourable members, distinguished senators, will not be carrying their aides into the airports any longer.
โWe will provide for all their security for the VIPs and the VIP will get in and travel.
โSo the VIPs should help us and take responsibility and ensure that they donโt add to our problems in this country.โ
Sirika said the Abuja and Lagos airports would resume domestic operations on July 8, as Kano, Port Harcourt, Owerri and Maiduguri would resume on July 11, while other airports would resume on July 15.
The minister said the airports authorities were committed to ensuring the provision of necessary safety protocols of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
โThere is nothing like rush hour. People have to stay safe before anything happens.
โSo, Iโm sure that as civil aviation, we are responsible to ensure that everybody remains safe.
โThere should be no fear, no panic, the industry is highly regulated. It is one aviation and Iโm sure that you have seen from what we have been doing lately.
โWe have been following the international convention and practices.
โSo, this will not be different, there is nothing to panic about, we will ensure physical distantancig when required.โ
On if the social distancing protocol would result in the reduction of the boarding capacity of an aircraft in terms of number of passengers, Sirika said: โNo, we didnโt say so.
โBear in mind that most of the flights are not always full. That is number one.
โNumber two, I said to you that we are working with the airlines to come up with the protocols before we open. That will be unveiled to you in due course.โ
He also assured the senate committee members that there would not be issue with the payment of workers salary in the sector.
On if the effect of COVID-19 will affect the price of ticketing, he noted that โPrice is not in my hands.
โBut like I said from what we have put in place, I do not think that anything significant will happen to affect the propensity to fly.โ
On the safety of the aircraft for flight operations the Director-General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt Nuhu Musa, said that immediately the airlines stopped flying NCAA gave them guidelines.
โWhat is called storage maintenance for them to comply with to ensure that their aircraft are properly stowed and in good condition when ready to fly.
โDespite the guidelines, we also check the aircraft before resuming operations.
โOur inspectors are going there to cross check what the airlines have put in their check list.
โWe are, however, not taking them for what they said. We are physically verifying the true state of their aircraft.โ
He said NCAA would not approve any airline or service provider to begin flight operations โuntil it fulfills and complies with every international guideline and protocols provided by the international civil aviation authorityโ.
Chairman of the Committee, Sen. Smart Adeyemi (APC-Kogi), said the interactive session was designed to find out steps being taken by the ministry and aviation authorities to ensure safety of passengers as the airports reopened.
He also said the meeting was also meant to get details on the demands of aviation workers who had earlier complained of non-payment of their salary.
