The Federal Government on Saturday refuted the claims that airfares had increased as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It emphasized that since there was no physical distancing onboard airplanes, airfares would witness little or no change in prices.
This was disclosed by Hadi Sirika, the Minister of Aviation, while inspecting the resumption of flight activities from Abuja to Kano and other airports.
He said, “There is no price increase in airfares because I know that someone travelled at about N30,000, while another person told me it was N25,000 (from Abuja) to Lagos.”
“So I want to assume that even if the increase had happened, like I said earlier on during the COVID-19 briefing, it will be minimal that passengers can afford.”
According to Sirika, the airports were opened in accordance to protocols established by PTF, hence safe for operations.
In response to why it was not mandatory to observe physical distancing onboard flights, Sirika said, “Because of the nature of the airplane, the aircraft cabin is hygienic enough once you have your mask on.”
“So you are safe to remain sitted on your seat and where possible, we will keep the distance. Airplanes are designed in such a way that the ambient air at altitudes is clean. It is not contaminated.”
He added that the clean ambient air being dropped in the aircraft would be pressurised by up to 200 degrees, killing all forms of bacteria or virus before being cooled to two degrees, hence pure and safe for passengers.
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