CONFIRMED! Lagos International Airport Receives British Airways Flight, Others From September 1

The Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, will start receiving its first batch of commercial flights from September 1 after over five months of shutting down operations.

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) had in March announced the closure of all five international airports in the country to curb further spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) into the country.

But investigations by THE WHISTLER have shown that some international airlines had been booked to start airlifting travellers from different parts of the world to Nigeria, following the federal government’s lifting of the ban on foreign travel from August 29.

British Airways’ flight from the John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, will depart on August 31 and arrive in Lagos on September 1.

The flight will stop at the London Heathrow Airport before connecting the MMIA, Lagos.

The flight details indicated that the airline was only taking business class bookings as Economy Standard and Premium Economy flights were marked “not available” as of the time of filing this report.

THE WHISTLER contacted the General Manager, Public Affairs of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Henrietta Yakubu, to find out if the agency was aware of the incoming flights by various international airlines, but Yakubu referred our correspondent to the websites of the airlines for accurate details of the flight schedules.

Checks on Air France’s website showed that the airline will start ferrying air travellers from the Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG) in Paris to the Lagos international airport from October 20.

The airline had also scheduled other dates to fly passengers to Lagos via its Air France and KLM carriers.

This newspaper had earlier reported other international airlines that have indicated preparedness to commence commercial flight operations to Nigeria to include: Lufthansa, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Delta Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, Egypt Airways, Angola Airlines, African World Airlines.