Some stakeholders in aviation have appealed to the Federal Government to speed up interventions to revamp the sector which, they said, was hardest hit by the COVID -19 pandemic.
They made the call in interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Abuja.
According to them, the aviation sector accommodated many businesses and employed thousands of workers, whose jobs were being threatened by the pandemic.
They said that interventions by the Federal Government would go a long way to help many airlines to get back to their feet.
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Mr Abayomi Agoro, President of the Nigeria Air Traffic Controllers`
Association (NATCA), said that the sector needed an urgent bailout to recover from the effects of COVID-19.
“Aviation is one of the sectors affected most in Nigeria and globally.
“In airports, you have fuel marketers, caterers, ground handling companies, security personnel, restaurants, small shops, lounges and others.
“They have stopped because there are no flights.
“We should prepare for post-COVID-19 recovery and stabilisation of the entire system,” he said.
The Max Air Executive Director, Mr Harish Manwani, said that intervention by the Federal Government would cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to him, in many countries, loans and relief packages have been offered to airlines to be able to sustain their operations and maintain their aircraft as safety should not be compromised.
“I believe that the Federal Government is working very hard to come up with a relief package for airline operators to assist the sector to come back to its feet.
“There are various things going on in the ministry, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and other bodies of government to ensure a decontaminated environment at all airports and on all aircraft in Nigeria.
“I have a strong belief that the aviation sector will come back soon, but we should have all the safety requirements in place,” he said.