The Federal Government has released the list of international airlines denied approval to operate in Nigeria as international flights resume on Saturday.
The international airlines denied flying approval, according to Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, include Air France, KLM, Etihad, Rwandair, Lufthansa, TAAG Angola Airlines, Air Namibia, and Royal Air Maroc.
Some airlines were however denied approval because international flights were yet to resume in their countries.
They are Cape Verde and South African airlines.
The airlines given licence to operate include: Middle-East, British Airways, Delta Airlines, Qatar Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, Egyptair, Air Peace, Virgin Atlantic, Asky, Africa World Airways (AWA), Air Cote-d’Ivoire, Kenya Airways, Emirate and Turkish airlines.
They are expected to operate within COVID-19 protocols.
Speaking in Abuja on Thursday at the briefing by members of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Sirika also issued further guidelines for arriving and departing international passengers.
On other criteria used for approving and denying the airlines, the Minister said: “We used the foreign carrier operator permit, which is the requirement by our laws, guidelines by COVID-19 Presidential Task Force and other guidelines including restrictions that came from other countries which will affect our own operations here at home.
“Airfrance and Lufthansa were not approved. The reason is that Swiss visas owners are not allowed entry and the same reason for KLM.
“In making decisions as to who comes, in the wisdom of the PTF and the ministry of Aviation, we understood that the government has done very well with a low rate of fatality. If you look at other countries, for example, they recorded lots of fatalities.
“We are over 200million people and we are still talking about 1000 deaths. I think we have done very well to fight this disease, so I think we don’t have any reason whatsoever to disallow Nigerians to travel.
“What we have done is to review the issues from other countries and what they have done to us. In the case of Britain, they said when we come, they will quarantine us and so, when they come to us too, we will quarantine them.