COVID-19: Minister announces extension of airports closure

Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has announced the extension of the closure of the airspace and airports (both local and international) in the country by another two weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The minister who disclosed this via his Twitter handle on Monday, said that the airports would no longer open for commercial operations on April 23 as had earlier scheduled due to the extended lockdown in the Lagos, Abuja and Ogun.

The Minister said, ‘‘As a result of the extension on lockdown by Mr. President, it is no longer possible for us to open our airspace and airports for normal operations by the 23rd April 2020. They will remain closed for a further 2 weeks”. ‘This subject to review as appropriate, please”, he said.

It could be recalled that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) shut the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos and the Nnamdi Azkiwe International Airport, Abuja, on March 23, 2020, to flight operations for one month as part of the measure to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease.

The two airports were in addition to the 3 other international airports in Port Harcourt, Enugu and Kano that were earlier closed to flight operations