Nigeria closes international airspace till October

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) stating that it is extending closure of international airspace until October 15 instead of August 19 as previously stated.Adamu Abdullahi, director, consumer protection of NCAA, confirmed this development in a telephone interview with BusinessDay.Abdullahi said international airports would remain closed until October.He said there was never a time the Federal Government gave a specific date for reopening the airspace for international flight operations but that the government had previously said the airports would be closed until August.He clarified that with this extension, the airspace would remain closed until October and if there was a need to extend the closure, it would be communicated.This implies that only essential and diplomatic flights would be allowed for now until the airspace is opened for international flight operations.The  Federal Government had in March shut down international airports in a bid to contain the spread of COVID-19 but allowed only diplomatic and essential flight operations.