FAAN asks passengers to arrive airport 3 hours before flight Local and international passengers are advised to arrive at the Airport 3 hours before flight.

The Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria has issued flight resumption protocol for both international and local passengers across the country.

This was disclosed by the agency via its Twitter handle on Monday.

It said, “Flight Resumption Protocol for Passengers: You are advised to arrive at the Airport 3 hours before your flight due to the new COVID-19 safety checks.”

Meanwhile, this is part of the ‘New Normal’, which Nairametrics had reported earlier, both operators and passengers in the aviation industry are expected to experience when after flight resumption.

During a webinar attended by Nairametrics, Managing Director, Aero Contractor Airline, Captain Aso Sanusi, explained that travellers must arrive earlier than they are used to and trust that boarding a plane was safe and that they would be able to enter the destination country.

The most immediate and perhaps most visible change the industry will witness is social distancing or touchless travel.

“Shortly before the total lockdown, we had implemented the social distancing policy and that took a lot of time. We witnessed a lot of delays because we had to ensure passengers keep safe distances at the point check-in in order to curb the spread of the virus. But physical distance policy in the aircraft will not be possible. That will not happen.

“Passengers will have to be fit to travel, as the Yellow cards will be substituted for COVID-19 card. Passengers must arrive earlier than they used to at the airport and definitely expect more delay. The old normal turn around for local will increase from 30 minutes to over 1 hour (new normal) because aircraft will be sanitized every time the plane land.”

According to him, there would also be panic at the airport or in an aircraft if certain things happened. For instance, if anyone sneezed, others would panic. “We will have to work hard to psychologically educate the passengers that the aircraft is the safest place to be,” he added.

Country Manager, Nigeria & West Africa, Qatar Airways, Kennedy Chirchir, also agreed that the new normal of the industry would mean a total paradigm shift.

To him, the development would affect airline preparations, check-in preparations together with how agencies interacted with customers and airlines.

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But the concern of some passengers was that flight delay should not reoccur after lockdown, as such development would be frustrating for passengers that must arrive airports early.

FAAN compares notes with Munich Airport ahead of flight resumptionJune 13, 2020In "Hospitality & Travel"

NANTA Explains 4 New Reasons Why Nigeria’s Aviation Sector Is SinkingSeptember 14, 2016In "Business News"

COVID-19: The ‘New Normal’ for Nigerian aviation industryMay 17, 2020In "Companies"

Abiola Odutola

Abiola has spent about 14 years in journalism. His career has covered some top local print media like TELL Magazine, Broad Street Journal, The Point Newspaper. The Bloomberg MEI alumni has interviewed some of the most influential figures of the IMF, G-20 Summit, Pre-G20 Central Bank Governors and Finance Ministers, Critical Communication World Conference. The multiple award winner is variously trained in business and markets journalism at Lagos Business School, and Pan-Atlantic University. You may contact him via email - abiola.odutola@nairametrics.com.

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HOSPITALITY & TRAVEL

Just-in : FG suspends ExecuJet for flying Naira Marley to Abuja

Ministry of Aviation has suspended operations of the ExecuJet indefinitely for providing false information.

Published

1 hour ago

June 15, 2020

Abiola Odutola

The Ministry of Aviation has suspended ExecuJet airline indefinitely for false information and for flying Naira Marley to Abuja for a concert on June 12.

This was disclosed by the Personal Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on New Media, Bashir Ahmad, via his Twitter handle.

He said, “Ministry of Aviation has suspended operations of the ExecuJet indefinitely for providing false information to convey Naira Markey to Abuja for a concert.

“The flight was initially approved to convey a service Justice from Lagos to Abuja.”

HOSPITALITY & TRAVEL

LASTMA reacts to resurgence of fake online report, insists on arresting traffic offenders

LASTMA boss warned Lagosians to be wary of online reports aimed at causing confusion and mischief.

Published

11 hours ago

June 15, 2020

Chike Olisah

LASTMA reacts to resurgence of fake online report, insists on arresting traffic offenders

The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has affirmed its right to enforce the state’s traffic laws and arrest traffic offenders in the course of its duties.

This was disclosed by the General Manager of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Mr. Olajide Oduyoye, on Sunday, June 14, 2020, through a tweet post on the official Twitter account of the Lagos State Government, @followlasg.

He explained that the false report, which was earlier circulated online by an Auto Repair Company in February, 2020, had been refuted by LASTMA.

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He warned Lagosians, especially motorists, to be wary of online reports aimed at causing confusion and mischief. Oduyoye also wondered why some individuals chose to mislead others to contravene the traffic laws of the state, as amended by the State House of Assembly in 2018.

He noted that part of the Agency’s responsibility was to uphold and enforce the traffic laws of the State, while maintaining that the officers and men of LASTMA would not hesitate to enforce those laws, whenever violated, in order to transform the state’s transportation system, ensure the free flow of traffic and reduce road accidents.

The General Manager, therefore, advised the public to ignore and disregard all fake news circulated by faceless individuals designed to lead them into breaking the traffic laws of the State.

It can be recalled that the Lagos state government had in February 2020, refuted claims that LASTMA was not empowered to arrest traffic offenders while also describing the online report as fake.

HOSPITALITY & TRAVEL

China set to approve $5.3 billion for Ibadan-Kano rail project

The Minister stated that China had assisted Nigeria by disbursing cash to fund infrastructure in the country.

Published

2 days ago

June 13, 2020

Chike Olisah

China set to approve $5.3 billion for Ibadan-Kano rail project

China is set to approve the sum of $5.3 billion for the ongoing railway projects across the country. This is to commence and complete construction of the Ibadan-Kano rail line.

The Minister for Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, disclosed this on Friday, June 12, during a special broadcast progamme on Channels Television to mark the country’s Democracy Day.

Amaechi stated that China had assisted Nigeria by disbursing cash to fund infrastructure in the country, especially railway. He said:

“The Chinese government and people have been very helpful to Nigeria. They have released $1.6 billion for Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge railway (SGR). They’ve agreed to approve and we hope that by October, they should be able to approve the $5.3 billion for the Federal Government so that we can commence and complete construction of Ibadan-Kano railway.”

Going further, the Minister pointed out that President Buhari had directed the release of $318 million as part of the 15% counterpart funding for the Ibadan-Kano rail line; more funds would be released next year.

He said that the Federal Government had planned to complete the Lagos-Ibadan rail line in May, and then start the Ibadan to Kano segment by June or July, but with the coming of covid-19 in March, the project had been stalled.

However, there was a presidential directive to start work on the project before September and as such, meetings were being held with the Chinese concerning strategies that would be applied while considering the health implications of covid-19.

Amaechi also talked about plans for the Bonny-Port Harcourt-Maiduguri rail line. He said, “We believe at the end of July, we should be at the cabinet seeking approval for the Bonny-Port Harcourt-Maiduguri rail line with the Bonny deep seaport and industrial park at Port Harcourt. That’s where we are now.”

The Minister further disclosed that the Federal Government had been able to pay compensation at commercial rates, and not government rates to people and organizations that were displaced by the Lagos-Ibadan railway project.