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Nigerian govt quarantines pilots of impounded British aircraft
The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, said on Monday the pilots of the impounded aircraft owned by a British company, Flairjet, have been quarantined for 14 days.
Sirika, who revealed this during a briefing by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja, also said the name of the British company is Flairjet not Flair Aviation as erroneously reported on Sunday.
He said: “There is a company called Flairjet. I want to apologise that I tweeted in the afternoon (on Sunday) when the fasting was biting harder and we verified this as Flair Aviation. The correct name is Flairjet and it is a UK registered company.
“They have an aircraft, Legacy 600, and the registration number of the aircraft is GPRFX. Their business address is Business Aviation Centre, Terminal Road, Birmingham International Airport, West Midlands and their code is B26QN.
“This company applied severally as to operate humanitarian flights and we did approve. It is very clear at the beginning of this exercise that we defined what those flights should be: essential flights basically – cargo, medical evacuation, medical supplies, and so on and so forth.
“Unfortunately, this company decided to become commercial in their service, charging money and flying people in and out.
“In the first place, the whole essence of a lockdown is to ensure there is no movement of persons freely because this COVID-19 we are all spending sleepless nights for happened because somebody travelled abroad. So, we believe this shouldn’t happen.
READ ALSO: Lalong inaugurates special committee for local cure for COVID-19
“Current status, we are investigating the matter right now, it would finish very soon. The crew is British nationals. The pilots are subjected to 14 days quarantine at the moment while the investigation goes on. Whatever is there in our laws will be applied to the fullest.”
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