Hospitality & Travel
COVID-19: FG orders air passengers to pay for repeat PCR tests
The mandatory repeat PCR test will be conducted 7 days after arrival, and subsequently after the test 1.
The Federal Government has asked potential passengers that will be coming into the country to pay extra for Polymerise Chain Reaction (PCR) tests from a certified private lab listed on the travel portal.
This disclosure was made via the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture Twitter handle.
According to the information available on the ministry’s twitter handle, the mandatory repeat PCR test will be conducted 7 days after arrival, and subsequently after the test 1.
What they are saying:
It tweeted, “MANDATORY PAYMENT FOR REPEAT PCR TEST: Flying to Nigeria? You must pay for your repeat PCR test.
“5,000+ passengers will come into Nigeria when all airports re-open. PCR testing prevents positive cases from coming into Nigeria.”
“Test 1: Mandatory PCR test within 5 days before departure.”
“Test 2: Mandatory repeat PCR test, 7 days after arrival.
“Pay for your repeat test from a certified private lab on the travel portal.”
What you should know: Presently, Antibody testing and PCR testing are the dominant ways that global healthcare systems are testing citizens for COVID-19.
Both prevent positive cases from coming into Nigeria. Further checks at the Nigeria International Travel Portal revealed that;
Passengers are also requested to upload their COVID-19 PCR NEGATIVE results on to the national payment portal and bring along an electronic or hard copy of the result.
Payment for a repeat (second) PCR test to be done upon arrival in Nigeria. This portal will provide passengers with the options of where and when to carry out the PCR test.
Passengers will be given an appointment date and time to present themselves at the Laboratory for a repeat COVID-19 PCR test on the 7th day after arrival.
A list of accredited private laboratory providers across the country will be available on the portals.
Passengers whose destination is Lagos will pay to the Lagos State Laboratory consortium portal.
Hospitality & Travel
Qatar Air starts Abuja operations with first Nigerian female Boeing 787 pilot
Qatar Air has commenced its inaugural flight to Abuja with the first Nigerian female Boeing 787 pilot.
Qatar Air has commenced its inaugural flight to Abuja, Nigeria on Friday. The airline commenced the operation with the first Nigerian female Boeing 787 pilot, Adeola Ogunmola Sowemimo.
This was disclosed on Friday by the Director-General, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri, via her official Twitter handle.
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She tweeted, “Today, Qatar Air operated its inaugural flight to Abuja, Nigeria. And our own Adeola Ogunmola Sowemimo was on the right seat as she assisted Captain Khan Sameer Ali. Adeola is the first Nigerian female Boeing 787 Pilot and the first Nigerian female Pilot to fly for Qatar Airways.”
Today Qatar Air operated its inaugural flight to Abuja, Nigeria. And our own Adeola Ogunmola Sowemimo was on the right seat as she assisted Captain Khan Sameer Ali. Adeola is the first Nigerian female Boeing 787 Pilot and the first Nigerian female Pilot to fly for Qatar Airways.
— Abike Dabiri-Erewa (@abikedabiri) November 27, 2020
What you need to know
Sowemimo, who graduated in 2011 from the US-based Sunrise Aviation Academy and started her aviation career there, became the first Nigerian female pilot to work for Qatar Airways in the Middle East — a region which is challenging for women hoping to become pilots.
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She is also the first female Nigerian to fly the Boeing 787 Dreamliner for Qatar Airways and the first Nigerian female pilot to fly the Boeing 767 Aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean, which puts her in the same league with Kenya’s Captain Irene Koki and Ethiopia’s Captain Amsale Gulau.
Explore Data on the Nairametrics Research Website
Hospitality & Travel
Aviation contribution to GDP drops by 38.86% in Q3 2020 – NBS
A recently released NBS report indicates that air transport contracted by 38.86% in the third quarter of 2020.
The GDP report recently released by the National Bureau of Statistics indicates that air transport under the transportation and storage sector contracted by 38.86% in the third quarter of 2020.
According to the report, the subsector contracted Q-o-Q by 57.38% and 15.23% Y-o-Y.
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The transportation and storage sector comprising road transport, rail transport and pipelines, water transport, air transport, and transport services experienced growth of 35.06% in nominal terms (year-on-year), as it sought to gradually recover from the restricted movements of passenger and goods.
According to the report, “In real terms, the transportation and storage sector contracted by -42.98% in Q3 2020. This rate represented a slightly better performance than the preceding quarter when it recorded -49.23%, an increase of 6.25%. Year on Year, growth was 18.24%.”
(READ MORE: IGR: States generate N612.9 billion in H1 2020, dips by 11.7% )
What you should know
All activities under transport and the storage industry recorded negative growth rates, except for post and courier services.
Part of the report read, “All activities under the transport and storage industry recorded negative growth rates except post and courier services. Quarter on quarter, growth stood at 29.69%. Transport activities contributed 1.28% to nominal GDP in Q3 2020, a decline from the 2.03% recorded in the corresponding period of 2019, but higher than 1.13% recorded in the second quarter of 2020.”
READ: Nigerian economy slips into recession as GDP contracts by 3.62% in Q3 2020
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The subsector suffered, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic pay cuts and job losses.
Several pilots were sacked and as well some Ground handling companies also took a beating, as Skyway Aviation Handling Company Plc and the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc saw their combined revenue for nine months ended September 30, dip by N2.7bn to N10.1bn from N12.8bn in the same period of 2019 – representing 21.2% reduction in revenue in the period under review, according to the financial statements of the companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
Explore Data on the Nairametrics Research Website
Hospitality & Travel
US imposes $15,000 visa bond on 15 African countries, others
The US has issued a visa rule requiring tourist and business travelers in some countries to pay a bond of up to $15,000 in addition to the visa fees.
The outgoing administration of US President, Donald Trump, on Monday, November 23, 2020, issued a new temporary visa rule that requires tourist and business travelers from 15 African countries and others to pay a bond of up to $15,000 in addition to the visa fees, which ranges from $16 to $300, in order to visit the United States.
According to TheCable, the US State Department said the visa bond pilot programme, expected to take effect from December 24 and end on June 24, 2021, is targeted at countries whose citizens have higher rates of overstaying B-2 visas for tourists and B-1 visas for business travelers.
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The Trump administration said the six-month pilot program aims to test the feasibility of collecting such bonds and will serve as a diplomatic deterrence to overstaying the visas. Hence, overstay places significant pressure on Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security.
The visa bond rule will permit U.S. consular officers to request tourist and business travelers from countries whose nationals had an overstay rate of 10% and above in 2019 to pay a refundable bond of $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000.
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The countries whose tourist and business travelers fall into this category and subjected to the bond requirements are 24 countries, including 15 African countries. While these nations had higher rates of overstays, they sent relatively fewer travelers to the United States.
The countries include Afghanistan, Angola, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Burma, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa), Djibouti, Eritrea, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Laos, Liberia, Libya, Mauritania, Papua New Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen
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Nigerian travelers escaped paying the temporary visa rule, as their overall score was below the threshold of 10% and above overstaying rate.
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Bill
November 12, 2020 at 9:03 pm
This is do stupid. After testing and deem.fit yo fly..Nothing can be discover with 7days
Except the Government officials are taking kickback from the lab.
If the government is truthful to the nation. It should be 14day after arrival
Anonymous
November 13, 2020 at 9:29 am
Nigerian government has fooled and fleeced common people from the beginning.
Anonymous
November 13, 2020 at 2:22 pm
Stupid government they always look for a way to ripe people off.