The Nigerian government has said it will apply the principle of reciprocity as the resumption of international flights in the country approaches.
Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, said this on Thursday in Abuja at the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.
The government explained that this means that only airlines from countries that allow flights from Nigeria would be allowed to fly into and out of Nigeria.
The minister explained that Nigeria’s position was informed by the ban placed by some countries on flights from Nigeria.
Represented by the Director-General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Capt. Musa Nuhu, Sirika argued that the decision was taken in the interest of Nigerians.
“On the list of countries (that are banned), we are working on the comprehensive list, but the main one that came up is when the EU opened their borders effective 1st July, Nigeria was among the list of 54 countries that were not allowed to enter the EU.
“To my understanding, as the situation changes, they are going to look at the list and change it. But so far, we don’t have any contrary information to that first one that Nigeria is banned from going to the EU.
“So, as we open our airspace, we are going to apply the issue of reciprocity to those (EU) countries.”
The minister explained that airlines would be given adequate information about flight arrangements to minimize disruptions.
Sirika announced last week that international flights would resume in Nigeria on August 29, 2020, after about five months following the lockdown to halt the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.
