For the third week, air transport in some parts of West and Central Africa has been disrupted; no thanks to the outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), which has led to flight bans and restrictions in parts of the sub-region. With the suspension of flights into and out of Nigeria by some carriers, KELVIN OSA-OKUNBOR reports that the losses are enormous.
These are not the best of times for airlines operating flights into West and Central Africa.
The carriers are recording low passenger traffic, unimpressive busineses and, in worst cases, losses.
Aside airlines, aviation authorities and ground handling firms are also counting their losses.
Officials of the airlines and other agencies have declined to state how much has been lost.
They said containing the spread of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease is more important than any commercial considerations.
The outbreak of the EVD has led to the death of over 1,000 persons in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria.
Three carriers Arik Air, ASKY Airlines and Gambia Bird have been affected by the disease.
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), in the wake of the spread of the disease, suspended the operations of ASKY Airline.
The Togolese carrier flew in the Liberian passenger, Mr Patrick Sawyer, who brought the disease into Nigeria.
ASKY Airline is an important player in West, East and Central Africa, operating 80 flights into Lagos and Abuja weekly.
Connecting flights into some countries in the sub-regions has become difficult due to the suspension of its operations.
The suspension of Arik Air flights into Monrovia, Freetown and Banjul in The Gambia has affected its hub and network, forcing passengers to explore other options to access airports in the countries.
Amid these, the NCAA has rolled out new guidelines for airlines for the screening of passengers.
Worried over its suspension, the management of ASKY Airlines protested to the regulatory body, which caused it to review the sanction. The Director-General, ASKY Airlines, Yissehak Zewoldi, faulted the suspension of its operations by NCAA.
The airline said the suspension was having serious impact on passenger movement within the West African sub region, urging the authority to reconsider its stand.
The ASKY boss argued that since the initial outbreak of the Ebola virus in Conakry last February, the airline has taken measures to avoid its spread.
He said he had written to the NCAA chief twice on the measures taken and his commitment to working with all authorities, governments and organisations in the fight against the spread of the disease.
He noted that ASKY is determined to keep its passengers and staff safe during this unsettling time, adding that the carrier is following the situation closely and will issue updates as the situation changes.
He said: “Considered to be the biggest carrier with a very large network within the West and Central Africa region, the carrier has constantly followed up all developments in collaboration with airport authorities, the World Health Organisation (WHO), Ministries of Health and the civil aviation to implement collective preventive measures against the spread of this deadly disease – Ebola – in suspected areas.”
He listed steps so far taken to include stoppage of food uplift, stoppage of overnight for crew, re-enforcement of aircraft disinfection, implementation of sanitary items, such as gloves, antiseptic liquids as well strict control of the transportation of perishable goods and food items.
But the Acting Director-General of NCAA, Benedict Adeyileka, who spoke through the General Manager Public Affairs, Mr Fan Ndubuoke, said the lifting of the suspension followed the steps by the airline to abide by its rules and regulations to curtail the spread of the deadly virus.
He said NCAA was collaborating with other airlines to curtail the spread of the virus, assuring that everything possible would be done to ensure safety.
Last week, the Minister of Aviation, Mr. Osita Chidoka, restated the Federal Government’s commitment to controlling the spread of EVD at airports.
The minister said this in Lagos at the end of an inspection of projects at the Murtala Muhammed Airport.
He said part of his visit to the airport was to review the medical procedures, including the screening of passengers, that had been put in place, and to assure travellers and other airport users that the government would do its best to ensure their safety.
For three weeks, officials of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria ( FAAN) and Federal Ministry of Health have been screening inbound passengers with infra ray equipment at the arrival halls of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport , Lagos.
This is to avoid body contact with passengers who arrived the country.
The screening includes the filling of forms to ascertain their health status and checking of the aircraft with infra red equipment before they embark on immigration protocols.
Facilities have been provided at the airport for passengers that manifest unusual body temperature and other symptoms of the disease.
Scores of Port Health personnel, attached to the Lagos International Airport, wearing white gloves, are stationed at varous units at the arrival hall before immigration protocol to carry out body temperature tests on the arriving passengers.
The General Manager, Corporate Communication, FAAN, Mr Yakubu Dati, said the screening was part of efforts by the government to curtail the spread of the virus.
He said isolation facilities had also been put in place to quarantine passenger who tests positive to the deadly virus.
Dati said the mandatory screening was imperative for in-bound passngers. He said the relevant agencies working at the airport, including, Customs, Immigration, Port Health, Police, FAAN security, have been sensitised to step up efforts to detect any possible spread of the virus into Nigeria.
Dati said airlines had been sensitised to ensure adequate screening of both in bound and out bound passengers to step up efforts to curtail the spread of the virus.
His words: “We have given instructions that airlines should carry out their screening and make sure that anybody that has virus should not be allowed to travel. The second stage is that passengers are given forms in the aircraft to fill in their health status; then thirdly is on arrival, we also have Port Health staff that is there to carry out preliminary checks which they do with infrared facilities, which does not involve contact and that is done even before Immigration Counter.
“For any case that require further checks we have a holding area where the passenger or passengers will be taken to and if it is a case that needs closer attention we have given them a space for quarantine where the passenger will quarantined. So ours is to provide the facility and the area for Ministry of Health to carry out their functions and we are doing that all across.”
Kenya is shutting its borders against travellers from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the three countries worst hit by the Ebola outbreak, the government said.
Kenya Airways announced that it would suspend its flights to Freetown and Monrovia when the government travel bar on passengers comes into effect.
Kenyan Health Minister James Macharia said the measure was also aimed at travellers who have passed through the affected countries.
“In the interest of public health the government has decided to temporarily suspend entry into Kenya of passengers travelling from or through the three West African countries affected by Ebola, namely Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia,” he said.
Kenyan Airways would continue to fly to Nigeria, despite a much smaller Ebola outbreak in its largest city, Lagos, the company said in a statement.
