The Federal Government is set to decontaminate a total of 125 aircraft and 13 airports as part of its strategy to combat the spread of the Coronavirus. This announcement was made by the Minister of Environment, Muhammad Mahmood, during the daily briefing by members of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 on April 29.
Mahmood emphasized that the decontamination process may progress slowly due to the specialized nature of the aviation industry. He also revealed that two aircraft have already undergone decontamination.
In his words, “Aviation sector is such a specialized sector. We cannot rush things. I did say that we have mapped out 125 aircraft and 13 airports. So far, we have decontaminated and disinfected two aircraft. Why we are not rushing it is because of the nature of the industry. It is a place that when it comes to safety, everything must be followed carefully, and even when we want to do that, we have to follow their lead as to how and where to go while decontaminating the aircraft. For the airports, we need to be led on where we need to go, how and when we need to also. The decontamination is ongoing because there are other facilities that we are decontaminating across the country. So, we will go as soon as they are ready for us.”
The decontamination exercise is part of the government’s wider efforts to ensure public safety in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.