Hadi Sirika, Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation, has said that passengers travelling abroad through the country’s airport terminals must arrive five hours before departure to undergo COVID-19 protocols.
Sirika said this on Saturday at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, while announcing some of the measures introduced for the reopening of the country’s airports closed in March following the outbreak of COVID-19.
According to the minister, authorities are putting the necessary equipment in place to help passengers adapt efficiently to the new normal and ensure that time was not wasted. 
“We will announce all the protocols again before opening. But you need to be at the airport three hours ahead of your flight.
“The experience is quite nice but it takes a bit of time which is why you will need to be at the airport three hours before your local flight. For an international flight, we may do five hours.”
Addressing concerns about the profitability of the aviation business upon the resumption given the new protocols to be followed, Sirika said the new guidelines would be implemented in a way that flights would still be profitable.
The minister added that toilets at the airports were also COVID-19 compliant, stressing that everything was being done to minimise physical contact.
He said that the pilots, engineers, traffic controllers and catering staff among others at the airports were now certified and licensed to carry out certain activities only when they have the valid clearance.
“Those new norms are coming and we will implement them in such a way that flights are profitable. The World Health Organisation and the International Civil Aviation Organisation have developed protocols of the sitting,” he added.
