Enugu, Kano, Port Harcourt airports reopen for international flights operations

The Federal government of Nigeria has announced dates for the resumption of international flights at the Enugu, Kano and Port Harcourt airports.

“We will be opening Enugu airport on the 3rd of May 2021, Kano on the 5th of April, 2021 and Port Harcourt on the 15th of April, 2021 for international flights,” the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, said at the weekly briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 on Monday.

President Muhammadu Buhari had in March 2020 ordered the suspension of international flights to limit the spread of the virus and halt imported cases.

While domestic flights were also suspended, it resumed in September 2020. The Nigerian government later approved the reopening of International flights in batches beginning with Lagos and Abuja international airports.

Sirika said there have been agitations for the government to reopen the airports for international operations.

“It takes a tremendous amount of work, appropriation in the management of this virus to be able to open departure and other areas of entry,” he said.

“We will do only at a time what will be good for the management of this virus, it is very painful especially for us in civil aviation to have our airports closed and our direct source of income affected as we are finding it extremely difficult to pay salaries.”

Sirika said efforts are ongoing to ensure smooth and safe operations when the airports finally reopen