Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau, has launched a new harmonized departure and arrival cards for air travellers in the country.

Announcing the development at the Kaduna International Airport on Thursday, Dambazzau said the initiative is part of government’s efforts at improving the ease of doing business as well as attracting investors to the country.

He noted that the introduction of the new cards was in line with international best practices and in pursuit of the federal government policy to keep record of movement of international passengers coming into Nigeria.

He added that the new cards will replace the multiplicity of cards that hitherto existed and would greatly enhance the activities of federal agencies such as the Nigeria Immigration Service, the Nigeria Customs Service, the Port Health Services and many others.

“This would go a long way to reduce the cumbersomeness and multiplicity of forms for travelers and enhance the ease of doing business in the long run,” Dambazzau said.

Also speaking at the event, the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Muhammad Babandede, applauded the federal government for the new initiative.

He pointed out that in the new departure and arrival cards, travelers were only required to respond to 15 questions instead of the former 30 questions that was hitherto the case.

He explained that travelers are mandated to fill the departure and arrival cards,  which contains their profile, and addresses other personal details for security purposes.

It should be noted that the Kaduna airport has commenced full international flight operations following the closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on midnight on Wednesday.

The first international flight that took off from the Kaduna airport was an EthiopianAir airliner which was headed to Addis Ababa.

Government says it will continue to engage other international airline operators who had refused to use the airport citing safety and security concerns.