International flights to resume in weeks — Sirika

The Federal Government of Nigeria has said that international flights would resume in weeks.

The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, said this on Thursday in Abuja at the 55th joint national briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19.

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While he did not give a specific date, the Minister said that the resumption of the international flights would be in a matter of weeks.

He said: “We in civil aviation want to open like yesterday.

“We are bleeding.

“We are sacking our workers, we are not paying salaries.

“We must move or fly from one point to another in order for us to remain in business but that is not the case now.

“So, we really want to open but we can’t open alone.

“PTF has set up a technical committee to come up with the state where everybody is happy to start.

“If it were up to us, we won’t even close the airports but we were forced by the virus to close,” Sirika said.

He urged Nigerians not to blame the government or members of the PTF for the delay as they have been putting efforts to ensure the re-opening of the nation’s airways for international flights.

He said: “We feel your pain and we know that the closure of the airports has separated families and friends and denied some access to hospitals abroad, schools and businesses.

“The continuous closure is not on purpose or punitive, it is just to ensure that we remain safe and healthy and the government is conscious of this fact and we are all aware of the adverse effect of the closure of the airport.”

Sirika said the government was conscious of its decision and would like to reopen as soon as possible while working with other offices and agencies  as well as other stakeholders.