Flights resumption: No decision taken on social distancing in aircraft — NCAA

Discussions are still ongoing over modalities for implementing social distancing protocol in the aircraft ahead of June 21 flights resumption, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has said.

The apex regulatory body in aviation said no decision has been taken yet on the proposal.

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Daily Trust reports that the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 has directed the reopening of the airspace beginning with domestic flights with effect from June 21.

It would be three months when the airspace was shut down following the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

Issues have arisen over modalities for complying with the physical distancing protocol in order to curb COVID-19 spread when the flights resume, with some stakeholders suggesting removal of middle seats in an aircraft.

One of the indigenous carriers, Dana Air, recently disclosed plan to remove middle seats from its aircraft when flights resume.

The Accountable Manager of the airline, Obi Mbanuzuo, said, “Majority of our aircraft are configured with mainly three seats in a row, on either side of the aisle; so when we resume flights anytime soon, we will keep the middle seats empty so passengers can sit on the window and aisle seats to ensure some physical distancing onboard all our flights.”

But other airlines have said removing middle seats or carrying 40 percent of the capacity of an aircraft may not be sustainable.

A spokesman of Dana Air, Mr. Kingsley Ezenwa, told Daily Trust yesterday that the plan to remove the middle seats has not been jettisoned but reasoned that the decision would be largely determined by the advice of the Aviation Minister, Senator Hadi Sirika, who was said to be advocating that airlines should carry 70 percent of their aircraft capacity.

He appealed to the government to fast-track the proposed intervention for airlines if the social distancing should be enforced.

Speaking with Daily Trust yesterday, spokesman of the NCAA, Mr. Sam Adurogboye, explained that discussions are still ongoing on how best to implement the physical distancing guideline in the sector.

According to him, if middle seats would be removed in order to enforce the physical distancing suggestion, it would be done in a safe and secure manner.

“On the issue of social distancing, we are still discussing. There is no finality on that yet. We have to look at what is being done elsewhere. We cannot do ours in isolation; everybody,” he said.