A plane operated by a British company, has been impounded by the Nigerian Government for allegedly contravening a flight ban imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the Minister of Aviation said on Sunday.
There has been a ban on Passenger flights into the country, with the exception of ones to evacuate people or repatriate Nigerian citizens, only flights for essential services, such as the delivery of food supplies and items for humanitarian use are permitted in the country.
The Honorable Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika said on Twitter on Sunday that a plane had been impounded after breaking the rules because the UK company “was given approval for humanitarian operations but regrettably we caught them conducting commercial flights”.The message further added: “The craft is impounded, crew being interrogated. There shall be maximum penalty.
James Oduadu, the ministry of aviation spokesman, told Reuters later in a telephone interview that the plane was operated by a company called FlairJet.
FlairJet is a British private charter company that is an affiliate of Flexjet. The company in a statement said the matter was an “evolving situation”.“We are continuing to respectfully work with the Nigerian authorities to resolve this situation,” it said.
with additional information from reuters