Nigeria will reopen its airports for international flights from August 29, Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sitika said on Monday.
The airports have been closed since March 23 as part of efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Only essential international flights were in operation.
According to Sirika, four flights would begin landing daily in Lagos and Abuja, with strict adherence to the safety measures put in place by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
It is safe to fly, if we observe all those protocols in place,” Reuters quoted Sirika to have said at a briefing in Abuja.
The minister did not say where the flights would be coming from.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, which recorded its first confirmed coronavirus case in late February, now has 49,068 confirmed cases and 975 deaths.
The country resumed domestic flights on July 8 and Sirika said there had been no confirmed virus transmissions on flights.
Passengers on international flights will need to provide a negative COVID-19 test in order to board and pay for another test after they arrive in Nigeria, Sirika said. They will also be required to fill in an online health questionnaire and present it to authorities when they land.
Those currently returning to Nigeria aboard repatriation flights are required to self-quarantine for 14 days, and authorities retain passports for that period.