The Federal Government today said the ban placed on domestic flights may be lifted by June 21.

Dr. Sani Aliyu, the National Coordinator of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, disclosed this during the daily briefing of the Presidential Taskforce in Abuja.

He said the aviation sector is expected to develop protocols that will lead to the full resumption of domestic flights any time from June 21.

Aliyu added that passengers would be required to wear masks or face shields and maintain physical distancing while airports would also have to mark areas to reflect social distancing.

“The aviation industry is requested to start developing protocols to allow for domestic flights to resume anytime from the 21st of June onwards.

When we say from June 21, we mean that we are preparing the aviation sector towards that date. That date may not necessarily be June 21, it could be June 26, 28 or even July 1.

It depends on whether or not they are prepared. So we are giving them a time frame of three weeks to start preparing for domestic flights.

We are giving an opportunity for the aviation sector that is heavily regulated to make sure that they start getting their acts together so that airports open up in a safe way,” Aliyu said.

Dr Sani said once domestic flights resume, then arrangements would be made regarding the lifting of the ban on interstate travel