Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
Passengers seeking to travel to Europe, especially Germany could not hide their joy when Lufthansa resumed flight operations on Thursday, December 3, 2020, after an eight-month suspension.
The respected airline again welcomed its passengers yesterday at the Lagos airport on board of its resumed nonstop flight from Frankfurt/Germany.
The leading German carrier will offer up to five weekly departures from Lagos to Frankfurt and from Tuesday, December 8, 2020, it will also connect Abuja with three weekly departures.
All long-haul flights depart from Nigeria in the evening as overnight flights, arriving in Lufthansa’s main hub Frankfurt in the early morning. This allows all passengers from Nigeria to get the full choice of connecting flights to European, American and Asian destinations, leaving all from the same terminal 1.
“Lufthansa always was and will stay dedicated to Nigeria, one of our key markets in Africa. As we have received the final permission to reopen our flight operations.
“We are happy to be the first airline to reconnect Nigeria directly to the centre of Europe and onwards to all other continents,” the General Manager Nigeria & Equatorial Guinea Lufthansa Group Airlines, Adenike Macaulay, stated.
Macaulay further said, “We offer a considerable number of flights to the US and Canada, allowing our Nigerian guests to have family members and friends again at reach throughout the world.
“Health and safety continue to be our top priority and we are committed to maintaining a strict adherence to hygiene regulations for all our flights.”
Lufthansa stopped its operations in Nigeria in March 2020 because of the travel restrictions put in place by the federal government to curb the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.
Lufthansa flight LH568, Frankfurt to Lagos, serviced by an Airbus 330-300, offers passengers seats in all three classes, including Business Class and Premium Economy Class.
After its arrival in Lagos, this service will continue to Malabo /Equatorial Guinea. The nonstop flight will commence with three weekly departures on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to be increased to five weekly frequencies every day except Tuesdays and Sundays. The return flight will be scheduled on the same days of operations reaching Frankfurt only after six hours flight.
LH594 will be the flight number for the resumed connection between Frankfurt and Abuja with three weekly departures. An Airbus 330-300 connects the Nigerian capital to the financial centre of Germany, Frankfurt, also with seats in three classes.
Finally, it is planned that this flight will also resume service to Port Harcourt; however, this onward flight is not yet confirmed until the airport is reopened.
As of now, all flights can be booked immediately through the usual distribution channels and the airlines’ website www.lufthansa.com.
The Lufthansa Group said it has taken special hygiene measures to protect passengers and employees. These apply not only onboard but also before and after the journey.
Details of these measures can be found at www.lufthansa.com/de/en/protection-measures and passengers have been advised to check travel and destination entry requirements before departure.
The firm further emphasised that all intending travellers to Nigeria must have tested negative for COVID-19 as PCR test in the country of departure pre-boarding. The PCR test must be done within 120 hours before departure and preferably within 72 hours pre-boarding.
International travellers will require a second test to be done in Nigeria, seven days after arrival and that registration for travellers to Nigeria is mandatory on https://nitp.ncdc.gov.ng/.
It stated further that for those travelling to Germany, no mandatory PCR test is required, however, passengers are required to register on https://einreiseanmeldung.de and stay in quarantine for 10 days after entry. Transit passengers are expected to abide by health and safety measures in their destination country.
