Air France and KLM Resume Passenger Flights to Nigeria

After almost 10 months of flight suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic and another 4 months of ban, Air France and KLM are set to resume regular passenger flights to Nigeria.

From 8 December, Air France will resume daily flights to Lagos and four weekly flights to Abuja from 5 January, 2021. KLM will return to Lagos with a daily service from 8 December, 2020.

In a retaliatory move, the federal government of Nigeria had banned airlines from the European Union from flying into Nigeria international flights resumed in August, 2020.

It will be recalled that the European Union had, on 1 July, 2020, banned travellers and tourists from 54 countries including Nigeria, citing the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, several airlines from the European Union operated passenger flights to Nigeria including Lufthansa, Air France, and KLM.

Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nigeria closed its international airspace in March and reopened it on 29 August, 2020, beginning with Lagos and Abuja airports.

According to the country's minister of aviation, other international airports, including Kano, Port Harcourt, and Enugu will be opened before the end of the year.