Lufthansa, Air France , Others Get FG Approval To Resume Int’l Flights

Lufthansa, Air France/KLM have been given the approval to operate international flights into Nigeria.

Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika made the disclosure in a tweet on Tuesday via his official Twitter handle.

Sirika also added that Qatar Airways has been granted approval to resume flights to Abuja.

The Minister hinted at the possibility of the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Port Harcourt International Airport and Enugu Airport accommodating foreign travellers before year end.

The tweet read, “We are working with Ministry of Health, CACOVID & The PTF to open Kano, Port Harcourt & possibly Enugu airports before the end of the year. Also Lufthansa, Air France/KLM has been given go ahead to resume. Qatar Airways is approved to start Abuja. Thank you for your patience.”

In September, the Nigerian government barred eight airlines from entering the West African nation as it resumed international flights operations.

The airlines are: Air France, KLM Royal Dutch, Lufthansa, Etihad Airways, RwandAir, Air Namibia, Royal Air Maroc and TAAG Angola.

Some of the airlines were denied permission to enter because Nigerians with tourist visas have been banned from entering those countries. The ones that fell under this category were: Air France, KLM Royal Dutch, Lufthansa and Etihad Airways.

Sirika had said that Nigeria will bar entry to nationals and airlines of countries that do not allow Nigerians to enter their territories amid the COVID-19 pandemic.