The Federal Government announced a suspension of all international passenger flights into Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, effective 23 March 2020, as part of a broader push by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 to slow the spread of the virus into the country.
From Restricted List to Full Closure
The closure followed an earlier restriction, announced in the preceding weeks, barring travellers arriving from 13 countries with significant COVID-19 outbreaks, including China, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States. Boss Mustapha, chairman of the Presidential Task Force, said the tighter measure was necessary after community transmission was confirmed within Nigeria, and that only cargo and emergency evacuation flights would be permitted during the closure.
Airlines operating into Nigeria, including Emirates, British Airways, Lufthansa and several domestic carriers with international routes, suspended their Nigerian services in line with the directive, leaving the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority to coordinate a limited schedule of repatriation and cargo flights in the weeks that followed.