COVID-19: FG Approves Third Evacuation Flights For Stranded Nigerians in the United States

The federal government has approved the evacuation of the third batch of stranded Nigerians from the United States on 17th July.

The Consulate General of Nigeria in New York disclosed this in a statement yesterday.

The statement revealed that Ethiopian Airlines, Flight No. ET509 is scheduled to depart Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey on Friday, 17th July, by 21:15hrs and arrive Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, by 13:25hrs on Saturday, 18th July, 2020.

The Consulate General said that all prospective evacuees, duly registered with any of the three Nigerian Missions in the USA, should purchase their one-way tickets through www.ethiopianairlines.com at the cost of $1,250 (N575,000) for Economy class and $2,800 (N1,288,000) for Business Class for adult/child fare, including all taxes, with the usual percentage reduction for infants under 2yrs.

The Consulate General also advised all prospective evacuees to forward their name, phone number and contact address of their Next of Kin in Nigeria to cgnny@nigeriahouse.com after purchasing tickets for confirmation, which will be done on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.

The statement said that according to the Nigerian Presidential Task Force (PTF) guidelines on Covid-19, all prospective evacuees must present an original Covid-19 negative test result not older than 14 days at the Airport of Departure and undergo a Temperature check 4hrs before departure.

The statement added:

“Any intending evacuees without the stipulated test result, or a body temperature above 38 degrees centigrade, or any symptoms suggestive of Covid-19, would not be allowed to check in”.

“While on board, all prospective evacuees are required to be in possession of a hand sanitizer for intermittent use throughout the journey and wear face masks. Furthermore, all returnees are enjoined to adhere strictly to all instructions of Port Health Services (PHS) officials and observe other entry screening protocols on arrival.”

Also, the Nigeria High Commission, London, has said that following the conclusion of arrangements for the 28th June, 2020 flight, it has commence arrangements with Air Peace Airlines for another flight to Abuja and Lagos on 13th July, 2020.

In a statement on Friday, it was said that in the light of the foregoing, Business Class ticket would cost $1,400 (N644,000), while Economy Class would cost $700 (N322,000), adding that Child fare is same as adult fare and infant under 2yrs would cost 10% of adult fare.

Hence, all prospective evacuees who could not be on the flight scheduled for 28th June, 2020, now have the opportunity to make payment for their interested ticket class to the accounts which were provided.

The statement added:

“Payment in Naira is also acceptable at the going market rate of N460/USD. If payment is made by proxy, full names of the passenger and the payee must be reflected and forwarded to the WhatsApp number and email addresses above”.

“Prospective evacuees are to note that the issuance of tickets shall be on a first come first served basis.”