Nigeria High Commission in Canada has concluded plans to evacuate 200 Nigerians who have signified interest to return to the country due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement released on Monday May 11, the Commission said a Boeing 777 aircraft operated by Air Peace has been particularly arranged to fly the intending returnees home on Thursday May 14.
A part of the statement reads;
The plane would pick the prospective passengers from two locations in Canada, namely Toronto and Alberta. The aircraft is expected to pick the first set from the Pearson International Airport, Toronto.
From there it will fly to the Calgary International Airport, Alberta, a distance of 2,915 k.m., to pick up the second set of passengers.
It added that;
The aircraft will depart Alberta for the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, where the evacuees would be moved into isolation for 14 days,
The one-way flight will cost each prospective evacuee between 1,130 dollars (N439,570) and 2,000 dollars (N778,000) depending on the class.
Upon arrival, this will be the fourth batch of Nigerians to be evacuated from foreign countries.
Last Wednesday, the first batch (265 Nigerians) were evacuated from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
On Friday, 253 Nigerians were evacuated from the United Kingdom, then on Sunday, 160 Nigerians were evacuated from the US.
This makes a total number of 678 Nigerians that have so far been evacuated from other countries as a result of coronavirus pandemic.
On the other hand, the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 has said the Federal Government would now be using four local airlines to evacuate Nigerians abroad back home.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, said this on Monday in Abuja at the 29th joint national briefing of the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19. He, however, did not mention any airline’s name.
This comes after the recent outcry by Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) over the decision of the government to patronise foreign airlines for the evacuation flights upon the return of the first batch of evacuees from Dubai aboard an Emirates aircraft.
Onyeama has now said local airlines will be patronized, explaining that;
Government is mindful of the need to use local carriers. Arrangements for airlines for first batch of flights were not done by government. Flights being arranged henceforth are all Nigerian carriers; we intend to use only Nigerian airlines henceforth.
According to him, there are still many Nigerians from China, India, France, Canada, Lebanon, Egypt, Sudan and other countries who have shown interest in returning to the country.
