By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
Brussels Airlines has announced plans to start flying to Sierra Leone in July this year. In a statement last Wednesday, the Belgian carrier stated that the plan is subject to the approval of the Sierra Leone government.
“Flights from Freetown will restart from the 17th of July – subject to the lifting of actual travel restrictions and approval of schedule by the authorities of Sierra Leone,” it states, adding: “Flights will operate to/from Freetown on July 17 and 31, August 14 and 28. Regular weekly schedules will start from September.”
Sierra Leone shut down its airport on March 23rd this year, amidst fears of the viral pandemic. Since then only flights with essential goods or aid packages have been allowed to land in the country.
The ban was part of measures to prevent the entry of the virus which was ravaging China, Europe and the Americas at the time. However, despite the ban, the country announced its first COVID-19 case eight days later.
The index case was a 37 year old man who had flown to the country from France onboard a Brussels Airlines flight on the 16th of March, according to the government.
The aviation industry is perhaps the worst affected economic in the world due to Covid-19. In the wake of the global pandemic, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) is plotting to revive the battered industry.
On the 1st of June this year, IATA approved what it called “Takeoff: Guidance for Air Travel through the COVID-19 Public Health Crisis (Takeoff).”
A Statement from the regulatory agency of air transport described the “Takeoff” plan as “an authoritative and comprehensive framework of risk-based temporary measures for air transport operations during the COVID-19 crisis.”
Deputy Minister of Transport and Aviation, Sadiq Sillah, told Politico that the government is open to allowing airplanes fly to and from the country, but noted that it must be safe for everyone involved.
Sillah said ICAO and IATA, two of the top global aviation regulators, which Sierra Leone is member of, have advised on the resumption of flights by the 15th of July, this year.
“We didn’t stop the aviation industry because we are happy; we stopped it because of the Coronavirus. The better we get things under control, the more willing we will be to open the aviation industry for operations,” Sillah said.
He added: “Globally we have protocols that relate to security and safety. So if the medical people and all those involved develop methods and do the due diligence on passengers before they board flights, then we will be more than happy to welcome flights in the country.”
Sierra Leone’s tourism sector has been the worse hit as a result of the ban on flights into the country with the hospitality sector struggling to manage its running cost in the face of the “tourist drought”.
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