Planes
Nigerian airlines record low patronage over insecurity
Nigerian airlines have confirmed that passenger traffic has reduced in the last four weeks. This, they attributed to the growing insecurity in different parts of the country. Those who spoke to newsmen insisted that high airfares could be a factor, but insecurity was also identified as major reason. They noted that even at the peak of high cost of tickets in May and April, passenger traffic was still high. Newsmen learnt that some airlines that resumed flights to some destinations in the north had to withdraw, while the south-east airports, which used to be lucrative routes after Lagos and Abuja have recorded reduction in passenger movement. Head of Communications, Dana Air, Kingsley Ezenwa, told newsmen that there is slight reduction in the airline’s load factor in its flights to Enugu, O...
Coronavirus: UAE restricts Nigerian passengers to Dubai airport
The United Arab Emirate, UAE, says passengers from Nigeria can no longer travel through other countries or airports to Dubai. This was made known in a notice by Dubai Airports, the operators of Dubai International Airport. The regulations restricted Nigerian passengers from transiting through other airports. The move comes as the United Kingdom on Friday suspended direct flights between the UAE and the UK as part of measures to curb the spread of the raging coronavirus disease. In a notice sent to travel partners, Dubai Airports said amongst other things, passengers from Nigeria can no longer travel through other countries or airports to Dubai. The notice was titled, ‘Dubai Travel Protocol Update–Travel From Nigeria’. It read, “Kindly be advised that effective from 01 February 2021, the fo...
Indonesian plane crashes after take-off with 62 aboard
A Sriwijaya Air plane crashed into the sea on Saturday minutes after taking off from Indonesia’s capital Jakarta. The plane was on a domestic flight with 62 people on board and their fate was not known. The Boeing 737-500, en route to Pontianak in West Kalimantan, disappeared from radar screens after taking off just after 2.30 p.m. (0730 GMT) – 30 minutes after the scheduled time because of heavy rain. Indonesian Transport Minister, Budi Karya, told a news conference that 62 people had been aboard Flight SJ 182, including 12 crew. The detik.com website quoted him as saying the plane crashed near Laki Island, some 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the airport. Rescue agency Basarnas said in a statement it would send a team to the Thousand Islands area to help in the search for victims “after th...
Moderna, McKesson, U.S. Army general begin rolling out new coronavirus vaccine
Distribution of Moderna Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine to more than 3,700 locations in the United States has begun, vastly widening the rollout started last week by Pfizer Inc, U.S Army General Gustave Perna said on Saturday. Moderna has already moved vaccines from its manufacturing plants to warehouses operated by distributor McKesson Corp where they are being packed into containers and loaded on to trucks on Saturday, Perna said during a news conference. Trucks will set out on Sunday and shipments will start reaching healthcare providers as soon as Monday, he said. The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved an emergency use authorization for Moderna’s vaccine, the second COVID-19 vaccine to be approved. The jab developed by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech SE was approved Dec. 11....
Families of kidnapped Katsina schoolboys fear time running out
Families of more than 300 kidnapped Nigerian schoolboys worried they may be brainwashed or held for years as security forces combed a vast forest on Wednesday for armed captors possibly from the jihadist Boko Haram movement. According to an unverified audio clip, the Islamist group – whose name means “Western education is forbidden” – was responsible for last week’s raid on an all-boys school in the town of Kankara in northwestern Katsina state. Parents fear time may be running out: Boko Haram has a history of turning captives into jihadist fighters. “They will radicalise our children if the government does not act fast to help us rescue them,” said trader Shuaibu Kankara, crying as he spoke from home. His 13-year-old son Annas was among those abducted from the Government Science school on...
First Americans vaccinated as U.S. death toll passes 300,000
An intensive care unit nurse became the first person in the United States to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, calling it a sign that “healing is coming,” as the U.S. coronavirus death toll crossed a staggering 300,000 lives lost. Sandra Lindsay, who has treated some of the sickest COVID-19 patients for months, was given the vaccine at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in the New York City borough of Queens, an early epicenter of the country’s COVID-19 outbreak, receiving applause on a livestream with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. “It didn’t feel any different from taking any other vaccine,” Lindsay said. “I feel hopeful today, relieved. I feel like healing is coming. I hope this marks the beginning of the end of a very painful time in our history. “I want to instil...
Air passengers decry upsurge in fares, seek urgent attention to roads, railway
Nigerians, who travel by air, have decried the “sudden” upsurge in air fares and urged the Federal Government to intervene to avoid poor patronage that could dwindle the fortunes of the aviation industry. Newsmen report that the air fares shot up by about 100 per cent in the last one week, with some airline operators even raising their fares by as much as 120 per cent or more. At Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, the fare from Abuja to Lagos, which was N35,300 (Economy Class), rose to between N70,000 and N75,000. Newsmen found that Business Class travellers were charged between N100,000 and N120,000, depending on the airline. Our correspondents, who visited other airports across the country, found that the rise in airfares was the same, a situation that forced some passengers to...
Norwegian Air furloughs staff, pleads for help to survive in 2021
Norwegian Air’s cash crisis could force the debt-laden budget airline to halt operations early next year, the company warned as it issued another plea for rescue funding after reporting quarterly results on Tuesday. The rapid expansion of the pioneer in low-fare transatlantic flights has left it with heavy debts and problems that have been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is now serving domestic routes only, with just six of its 140 aircraft flying. “Norwegian is dependent on additional working capital in order to continue operating through the first quarter of 2021 and beyond,” the carrier said. The company held cash and cash equivalents of 3.4 billion kroner ($380m) at the end of September, down from 4.98 billion kroner ($550m) three months earlier. Its latest plea comes after Nor...
Emirates offers passengers free coronavirus medical cover
Emirates has become first airline to offer free cover for Covid-19 medical costs for its passengers travelling via its networks to United Arab Emirates (UAE), and across the world, airlines chairman Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed al-Maktoum said. In the medical package deal, passengers travelling on the airline can now claim coronavirus medical expenses of up to $173,799 and quarantine costs of $115 per day for 14 days if one tests positive for the virus. The carrier, which has restarted operations globally, says the move is meant to boost confidence among travellers. “We will be the first airline to offer free cover for Covid-19 medical costs for its customers when they travel in the UAE and around the world,” Mr al-Maktoum said. “We know people are yearning to fly as borders around the world gra...
