Federal Government has been urged to open Nigerian Airspace shut as a result of the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic, to enable Airline operators to continue their normal businesses unhindered, in order to avoid a further meltdown of the economy.
Chief Executive Officer of Aeroland Travels, Otunba Segun Adewale, made the call on Wednesday in Lagos while speaking to journalists, saying that it was high time the Federal Government saw reasons with operators and those in related businesses, why airports across the country, should be opened for both local and international flights.
According to Adewale, the lockdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic had since last March caused untold hard to the travel and tours industry in the country, lamenting that over 20,000 direct members and hundreds of thousands of employees had not had it good.
This was just as he recalled that most of the countries that were severely hit by COVID-19 pandemic were now opening their economy, calling on the Federal government to consider a quick opening of the airports.
The company CEO said it was good that the government worked very hard to contain COVID-19 pandemic, which is a global phenomenon, but noted that while the country’s airspace was locked down, it did not inhibit private jets and chartered aircraft from moving in and out of Nigeria, “which negates the need for a lockdown of airspace in the first instance.”
“A lot of families that depend on their daily bread, working in our industry, have been going through severe pains, as the promise of Federal Government’s loan/palliative, through the designated Micro Finance bank, aimed at cushioning the effect of the lockdown was not accessible by employees of our industry,” he said.
“The reality is that we cannot lock down forever, and we must not also allow our economy to collapse but must manage to strike a balance,” he added.
Otunba Adewale however, commended the Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika, for making clarifications on the reports being circulated on some media platforms that the closure of international airspace had been extended till October 15, 2020.
Sirika on Tuesday had clarified that the circular by Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, is a 90-days routine to airmen not an extension of the ban.