House of Representatives Committee on Aviation yesterday called on the federal government to reopen airports in each six geo-political zone of the country when the ban on a flight is eventually lifted.

The call was made by the chairman of the Committee, Honourable Nnolim Nnaji who advised the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 to consider the partial opening of the airports to unlock the economy.

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Nnolim who stressed that the nation’s economy needs to be immediately unlocked said that ” in order to curtail the post-economic impacts of the coronavirus, a guided and gradual opening of the air transport sector was desirable to refloat the economy”.

He also suggested that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, (FAAN) and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, (NCAA) ” should come up with a well-designed procedure and standard operational procedure, (SOP) in line with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, (NCDC) established guidelines on safety”.

He observed that opening of an airport for partial flight operations ” in each of the political zones of the country will give all zones a sense of belonging and ensure equity and fairness”.

Honorable Nnaji who represents Nkanu East/West Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives advised that the appropriate Covid-19 disinfecting, testing, and sanitizing equipment be installed in each airport in the country to enable government fight the spread of the virus and restore passenger confidence.

He further noted that air transport remained the stimulating agent to the economy and therefore could not continue to remain in comatose any more.