Scheduled domestic flights will resume June 21 after government shut down airports for three months to curtail the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. KELVIN OSA-OKUNBOR examines the shape of things to come in the sector.
Airport runways rendered idle in the last three months are expected to come alive June 21 as domestic flights resume in four of Nigeria’s over 24 airports.
The Federal Government, since March 13, shut down airports as part of containment measures to curb the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Though government placed a travel ban on 15 countries since March 16, 2020 essential and humanitarian flights for medical supplies and evacuation of nationals were, however, allowed into Lagos and Abuja airports. But, these flights were subject to approval from the Ministry of Aviation.
Airports are, however, will re-open as a follow up to the release of a new set of health, airworthiness and operational protocols rolled out by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for returning operators.
Besides these protocols, the apex regulatory authority said operators are undergoing mandatory recertification. The exercise, described by NCAA as post- COVID-19 guidelines is being conducted to ensure there is no compromise with statutory oversight for aircraft airworthiness, crew recurrence and other required template.
According to experts familiar with the matter, active carriers including Aero Contractors, Arik Air, DANA Air, Overland Airways, AZMAN Air, Max Air and Air Peace are expected to comply with new operational guidelines and protocols rolled out by the NCAA.
The major plank of the NCAA re-certification, it was learnt, is focusing on the state of airworthiness of aircraft and health of airlines’ crew.
Investigations by The Nation reveal that airlines would have to scale fresh hurdles for their aircraft as it concerns aircraft maintenance validity and the recurrence of operating crew on licence currency and type rating.
Two weeks ago, NCAA issued a post-COVID-19 restart advisory circular containing protocol for scheduled carriers.
The circular, with number NCAA-AC-FSG-001, mandated all scheduled commercial airlines to apply and obtain an approval from the authority to resume operation once the restriction is lifted.
General Manager Public Affairs at the NCAA, Sam Adurogboye, who confirmed the development, said it was part of the proactive measures to prepare stakeholders ahead of resumption to achieve seamless flights.
Adurogboye said despite the recent extension of flight restrictions, the apex regulatory body was hands-on in its duties as it offered necessary assistance to operators.
According to him, the authority will grant approval to applicants upon satisfactory assessment of airlines for compliance with all relevant COVID-19 guidelines and applicable Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig. CARs).
He said airlines will be required to show evidence of compliance with actions listed under the immediate action plans required by the NCAA.
Adurogboye said: “No airline will be given start-up clearance without meeting the restart requirements.
“One of the items that will be required for immediate action is request by the airline’s restart plan to provide assurance of safe operations from technical perspective in flight operations addressing issues such as aircraft disinfection, aircraft de-preservation, flight crew recurrence or proficiency.”
He went on:” One of the requirements airlines will be required to comply with as one of the immediate restart actions is the COVID-19 Public Health Corridor Concept Protocol. It covers a diverse range of topics to protect against COVID-19 infection from passenger boarding, passenger and flight protection in flight to disembarkation. In case of a COVID-19 threat on board, a process to manage the situation is also required.
“The guidance is broken into immediate actions, short, medium and long-term plans by the NCAA to assure operational licenses and aircraft airworthiness certifications are readily available for the airlines to resume operations as quickly and seamlessly as possible when the pandemic is over.
“The immediate, short, medium and long-term plans are organised to address key functional areas listed above which are critical and dependent on the airlines and the authority. Though Air Navigation Services Provider (ANSP) and Airport Operations are critical to flight operations, the actions related to those areas are addressed by two separate sets of guidance issued by the NCAA. This plan is limited to only actions required to be taken by airlines to obtain the NCAA approvals to restart operations.”
Besides re-certification, the regulator, last week, introduced new protocols.
The protocols, according to the NCAA, are preparatory to re- opening of domestic travel at four airports.
The regulator listed the airports to include: Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt.
NCAA Director-General Captain Musa Nuhu revealed this at Webinar organised by the Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ART).
He said the NCAA was working on the proposed re- opening of domestic travel in a few airports so as not to choke the system.
Captain Nuhu said the NCAA has been working with a team, including airlines, ground handling companies and others to achieve seamless flights.
He said the team working on the re- opening of airports has forwarded a proposal to the Ministry Aviation for approval.
He said the team also submitted its suggestions and recommendations but was only awaiting feedback from the ministry.
The NCAA boss said: “We may resume domestic operations with four or five airports and we will expand to other airports as things get better. We don’t want to rush everything at the same time and get it choked up.”
He said the team was working on existing airport infrastructure on how to achieve the prescribed two metres requirement for physical distancing.
Apart from the NCAA, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) said it has calibrated its procedures preparatory to the re-opening of airports.
The airport authority said it has commenced the decontamination of airports preparatory to flight operations.
Its General Manager Public Affairs, Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu, said FAAN has put arrangements in place regarding passenger facilitation and what to expect as domestic flights resume.
Yakubu said passengers should expect delays and long hours o checks and re-checks right from when they arrive at the airport and depart.
She said escorts of Very Important Persons (VIPs) would no longer be allowed to follow their principals into the terminal.
She said such principals would be subjected to all health checks in line with new regulations for air travel post-COVID -19.
To this end, she said passengers are expected to leave their homes some hours before their flight to enable them to go through the various checks before entering the terminal ahead of boarding the aircraft.
The FAAN official said: “We are going to expect flight delays, flights will experience delays from checks and re-checks. If you are travelling, I will expect a potential traveller to leave home hours before his flight. I say this because there is going to be a lot of checks in the front of the terminal. We have been told of some activities and procedures that will take place in front of the terminal. So, air travellers are expected to leave home very early so that they can get to the airport on time.”
The FAAN spokesperson also explained that passengers should expect that airlines would charge more in terms of airfare, adding that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said there would be 45 per cent increase in fares.
Yakubu stated that the COVID-19 had brought a lot of changes to air travel to ensure the safety of passengers and airport users.
She said the way of doing things before would change as COVID-19 pandemic would make people cut down on non-essential travel , which, by implication, will occasion low demand for air travel.
At all airports, she said social distancing would be implemented in addition to the authorities insisting on 100 per cent temperature screening.
She said the authority would insist on compulsory wearing of face masks, disinfection of shoes and passengers’ luggage, which would also be carried out 100 per cent regardless of personality.
She said FAAN has escalated strategies on the decongestion of the terminal building, especially outside the departure and arrival halls where people who do not have any business at the mill usually around.
She said FAAN has also reworked its operational procedure to reduce physical affirming that the old practice of opening passengers’ bag at the airport for search would be a thing of the past.
She urged passengers to save themselves the stress of coming to the airport to buy tickets rather they should buy their tickets online, check in online and pay for their trolleys online to reduce the hours they would have to spend carrying out these activities.
But, there is, however, anxiety in operators’ circle over possible dip in passenger traffic fuelled by spike in COVID -19 figures in Nigeria.
Former Director-General of NCAA Harold Demuren said aviation authorities need to sensitise passengers on the need to rebuild confidence for travel following the popularity of virtual conferencing.
Besides efforts to sensitise passengers, he said there is need to increase investment on airport infrastructure to reduce physical contact in checking processes and procedures.
Air Peace Chairman Allen Onyema said operators were excited about airports re-opening. He, however, said many routines about domestic travels would be altered by local operators. Air Peace, he said, has decided to stop in-flight catering.
He said Air Peace would not deploy all its aircraft for operations as it has downsized its workforce by 60 per cent.
“Airlines need to stop serving food on board. Air Peace will not serve meals again. We have downsized because the passengers will no longer be there. We are going to deploy four out of the seven Boeing 737 aircraft and six out of the Embraer fleet.
“Lagos-Abuja is no longer going to be every hour. We are scaling down our flight operations to about 60 per cent.”
Aero Contractors Managing Director Captain Ado Sanusi expressed confidence that the sector would rebound just as it did after 9/11 and Ebola virus periods.
He, however, called for mergers and acquisitions, saying this is one of the ways forward for the sector.
