International travellers may need to arrive airport 5 hours before takeoff – Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika

Ahead of the planned reopening of airports across the country, the Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika has stated that passengers on international flights may have to be at the airport five hours before their flight’s takeoff.

The Minister who said this during an inspection of the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja and Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos on Saturday June 27, said they are putting the necessary equipment in place to help passengers adapt efficiently to the new normal and ensure that time is not wasted.

Sirika said; 

“We will announce all the protocols again before opening. But you need to be at the airport three hours ahead of your flight. 

“The experience is quite nice but it takes a bit of time which is why you will need to be at the airport three hours before your local flight. For an international flight, we may do five hours.”

On profitability of the aviation business upon the resumption, the Minister said; 

“Those new norms are coming and we will implement them in such a way that flights are profitable. The World Health Organisation and the International Civil Aviation Organisation have developed protocols of the sitting.”