The Federal Government on Monday said the ban placed on domestic flights may be lifted by June 21.
The National Coordinator of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Sani Aliyu, stated this during a briefing at the nation’s capital in Abuja.
Aliyu at the briefing also asked the aviation sector to begin to develop protocols that will lead to the resumption of domestic flights any time from June 21.
“The aviation industry is requested to start developing protocols to allow for domestic flights to resume anytime from the 21st of June onwards.
“When we say from June 21, we mean that we are preparing the aviation sector towards that date. That date may not necessarily be June 21, it could be June 26, 28 or even July 1.
“It depends on whether or not they are prepared. So we are giving them a time frame of three weeks to start preparing for domestic flights.
“We are giving an opportunity for the aviation sector that is heavily regulated to make sure that they start getting their acts together so that airports open up in a safe way,” Aliyu said.
Aliyu also noted that once domestic flights resume then arrangements would be made regarding interstate travel because you cannot have a ban on interstate travel and you have people flying from one state to another.
He added that passengers would be required to wear masks or face shields and maintain physical distancing while airports would also have to mark areas to reflect social distancing.