Int’l flights restart: FG approves BA, Delta, 11 others, bars Lufthansa, Air France, five others

 

 

Posted by Sade Williams 

 

Only 13 airlines have been approved by the Federal Government of Nigeria to operate international flights into Lagos and Abuja beginning September 5, 2020.

A chart seen by the Travelport.com.ng, shows that the others were not approved based on sundry reasons ranging from not being ready with COVID-19 protocols to some foreign airlines’ restrictions on citizens of other countries issues.

The chart shows that apart from Air Peace, which is Nigeria’s carrier,  Middle East airlines; British Airways; Delta Airlines; Qatar Airways; Ethiopian airlines and Egypt Air have been cleared to operate into Nigeria.

Others approved by government are Virgin Atlantic; Asky airlines; Africa World Airways; Air Cote d’ivoire; Kenya Airways; Emirates and Turkish Airlines.

However, Air Senegal is seen on the time table but not on the approved list.

Rwanda Air, Royal Air Maroc, TAAG and Air Namibia were not approved  due to noncompliance with Foreign Carrier Operating Permit (FCOP), according to Captain Musa Nuhu, director general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

Lufthansa, Air France, KLM and Etihad Airways were not approved because their countries would not grant entry to Tourist visa holders from Nigeria.

Abu Dhabi is only open to citizens and residents only.

A time table for the restart operations also seen by this medium shows that each flight would not carry more than 200 passengers into Nigeria at a time.

 

S/N	Airlines	Destinations  In Nigeria	Foreign Carrier Operating Permit (FCOP)	Restrictions on Nigerians	Country	Comments
1.	Air France	Lagos Abuja	Yes	Tourist visa holders not allowed entry	France	Not Approved
2.	Middle East Airlines	Lagos	Yes	Allowed entry under COVID- 19 Protocols	Lebanon	Approved
3.	British Airways	Lagos Abuja	Yes	Allowed entry under COVID- 19 Protocols	United Kingdom	Approved
4.	KLM Royal Dutch	Lagos	Yes	Tourist visa holders not allowed entry	Netherlands	Not Approved
5.	Delta Airlines	Lagos	Yes	No restrictions	USA	Approved
6.	Qatar Airways	Lagos	Yes	Allowed entry under COVID- 19 Protocols	Qatar	Approved
7.	Etihad Airways	Lagos	Yes	Abu Dhabi Open to citizens and residents only	UAE	Not Approved
8.	Ethiopian Airlines	Lagos Abuja	Yes	Allowed entry under COVID- 19 Protocols	Ethiopia	Approved
9.	Egypt Air	Lagos Abuja	Yes	Allowed entry under COVID- 19 Protocols	Egypt	Approved
10.	Rwanda Air	Lagos Abuja	No	Allowed entry under COVID- 19 Protocols	Rwanda	Not Approved
11.	Air Peace Airline	Lagos	Not Required	Not Applicable	Nigeria	Approved
12.	Virgin Atlantic	Lagos	Yes	Allowed entry under COVID- 19 Protocols	United Kingdom	Approved
13.	Air Namibia	Lagos	No	Not applicable as international flights not resumed	Namibia	Not Approved
14.	Asky Airlines	Lagos Abuja	Yes	Allowed entry under COVID- 19 Protocols	Togo	Approved
15.	Royal Air Maroc	Lagos	No	Resume International flights 10/09/20	Morocco	Not Approved
16.	Africa World Airways	Lagos Abuja	Yes	Allowed entry under COVID- 19 Protocols	Ghana	Approved
17.	Air Cote d’ivoire	Lagos Abuja	Yes	Allowed entry under COVID- 19 Protocols	Cote d’ivoire	Approved
18.	Lufthansa	Lagos Abuja	Yes	Tourist visa holders not allowed entry	Germany	Not Approved
19.	Kenya Airways	Lagos	Yes	Two weeks quarantine	Kenya	Approved
20.	Emirates Airlines	Lagos Abuja	Yes	Allowed entry under COVID- 19 Protocols	UAE	Approved
21.	Turkish Airlines	Lagos Abuja	Yes	Allowed entry under COVID- 19 Protocols	Turkey	Approved
22.	Cabo Verde	Lagos	Yes	Not applicable as international  flights not resumed	Cabo Verde	Not applicable as international flights not resumed
23.	TAAG Angola	Lagos	No	Not applicable as international  flights not resumed	Angola	Not Approved
24.	South African	Lagos		Not applicable as COVID-19 Health Protocols yet to be released		Not applicable as international flights not resumed