By Dipo Olowookere
Some major operators in the nation’s aviation industry have announced the suspension of their flight operations for some days.
The decision to put a hold on domestic flight operations was to stop the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which has negatively impacted on the global aviation sector due to travel restrictions.
The management Aero Contractors, in a statement, announced that it was suspending its operations for two weeks from Thursday, March 26, 2020.
On its part, Dana Air said from Wednesday, March 25, 2020, it would not operate for at least two weeks in line with the precautionary measures by the Lagos State government.
For Max Air Transport Company, it announced in a statement that its domestic flight operations would be suspended from Friday, March 27, 2020 to April 12, 2020 for the safety of the general public and staff from being infected by coronavirus.
“Max Air Wishes to inform the general public that we are suspending our domestic flight from Friday 27 March, 2020.
“This has become imperative for the safety of the general public and the staff members as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic ravaging the world.
“Max air regret any inconveniences this will cause the general public. We hope to resume operations on the 12th April 2020,” an Executive Director of Max Air, Mr Harish Manwani, said, expressing the company’s regret on inconvenience the act could cause the masses.
The Chief Operating Officer of Air Peace, Mrs Toyin Olajide, while announcing the company’s suspension of its flight services, said the company will not operate from Friday, March 27 for 23 days.
“It is with a great sense of responsibility that we have decided, in the best interest of our nation, our passengers and workforce, to suspend scheduled flight operations for 23 days effective 23.00hrs on Friday (an hour before midnight on Friday) the 27th day of March, 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This difficult decision was reached in order to, not only, support the efforts of the Federal Government and other stakeholders in curbing the spread of this virus in our nation but also to protect our teeming passengers and our staff from becoming victims of the pandemic,” she said.
For Arik Air, it announced a temporary suspension of all scheduled commercial flight operations effective Friday, March 27, 2020 in order to mitigate the risk of the spread of the pandemic to its valued customers and staff, and hopes to resume services as soon as feasible.
“Customers who have confirmed tickets have been advised that they could still use their tickets when the airline resumes flight operations. Such tickets could also be modified at no extra charge,” the firm said.
