A total of 32 airlines made up of scheduled and non-scheduled operators are currently listed as holding the all-important Air Operator Certificate (AOC) and are on the register of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) as at January 10, 2017 till date, Woleshadare.net has learnt.

Airlines are categorised into scheduled and non-scheduled on the strength of the type of operations they carry out. A scheduled flight is a trip by airplane that has been planned for a certain time and date. Airlines sell tickets for scheduled flights to help travellers get from one destination to another.

The eight airlines that operate scheduled passenger operations are Aero Contractors, Arik, Overland Airways, Medview, Dana, Air Peace, AZMAN and First Nation Airways. A country’s civil aviation authority gets the power to issue AOC to an aircraft operator to allow it use aircraft for commercial purposes.

This requires the operator to have personnel, assets and system in place to ensure the safety of its employees and the general public.

The certificate lists the aircraft types and registrations to be used, for what purpose and in what area – specific airports or geographic region.

Meanwhile, two of the airlines,out of the 32, ceased to be regarded as airlines, owing to the expiration of their certificates.

The two carriers are Chanchangi Airline, whose AOC expired February 4, 2017 and Kabo, whose certificate number KAL/AOC/01-15/01 had expired since Jan 29, 2017.

Kabo Airlines has reputation for airlift of Muslim pilgrims spanning over 25 years and remained struck out of the NCAA register until it shows compliance to renew its certificate. Chanchangi Airlines with AOC certificate number AAF/C/006 has for over six years stopped flight operations; an indication that the carrier’s alleged plans to restart operations soonest might have hit the rocks. AOC certificate renewal is done by the aviation regulatory body every two years.

The 30 other airlines with active AOC are Aero Contractors with AOC number CAN/ AOC/12-12/08 valid till January 1, 2019, Allied Air AAL/AOC, 07- 13/003 valid till July 30, 2017, Air Peace APL/A0C/09-14/001 valid till September 7, 2018, Arik Air RIK/AOC/07-10/01 valid till July 11, 2018, Associated Aviation ASS/ AOC/06-15/001 valid till May 31, 2017.

Azikel Air AZK/AOC/07-16/001, AZMAN Air AAS/AOC/05-14/002, Bristow Helicopters BHL/AOC/12- 14/002, Caverton Helicopters CH/ AOC/11-14/001, Dana Airlines DAN/ AOC/11-1808/01 and Dornier Aviation DAA/AOC/06-15/002.

Others are Executive Jet Services ELS/AOC/03-15/002, First Nation FNA/AOC/10-11/02, Gyro Air Limited GAL/AOC/10-16/001, HAK Air HAK/AOC/04-12/001, Izy Air IZY/AOC/12-15/001, Jed Air JED/ AOC/06-13/002 and King Airlines AAX/C/024.

Also included are Max Air MAX/ AOC/06-13/001, Medview Airline MVA/AOC/03-14/001, OAS OAS/ AOC/03/14/002. Others are Overland Airways OAL/AOC/03/14/001, Pan African Airlines PAN/AOC/12-14/001, Skybird Air SKYBIRD/AOC/04-13/08, Skyjet Aviation Services Limited SKL/AOC/12-12/07, Skypower Express Airways AAR/C/018 and West Link Airways WLA/AOC/02-11/002.

Also on the list are Nestoil Plc NOL/AOC/03-15/002, OMNI BLU Aviation Limited OBA/AOC/12-15/002 and Top Brass Aviation Limited TBA/ AOC/11-11/03.

Spokesman for NCAA, Sam Adurogboye, told tour correspondent that the aviation regulatory body had since suspended the AOC of Top Brass Aviation because the promoters of the airline operated “an aircraft that was not air worthy,” which, he said prompted the NCAA to slam them with N50 million fine.

Adurogboye disclosed that the operator pleaded with the regulatory body to defray the fine instalmentally. He said that currently, the number of airlines registered stands at 30, made up of scheduled and non-scheduled airlines.

Meanwhile, nine inspectors of NCAA have qualified and duly certified as International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Instructors.

A statement from Adurogboye said all the officers attained this qualification after the successful completion of the ICAO TRAINAIR PLUS Training Instructors Course (TIC). He stated that with this development, the Federal Government has saved huge capital flight and conserved substantial foreign exchange from domesticating the training in Nigeria.

These training, he noted, were hitherto carried out in the diaspora. The training took place at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, a certified TRAINAIR PLUS Centre from February 13 to 17, 2017.

This certification programme, according to Adurogboye, is in line with NCAA Director General’s four-point agenda to continuously develop its internal capacity.

He added that this would accelerate the authority’s human capital development that will continue to strengthen the robust regulation of the industry.

The ICAO certification confers on the instructors the competency to conduct training courses and develop training strategies for course delivery.

In addition, they are qualified to deliver Standardised Training Package (STPs) based on TRAINAIR methodology as well as conventional courses.

The Training Instructors Course (TIC) is an ICAO Standardised Training Package (STP) under the TRAINAIR PLUS Programme (TPP) of the ICAO Global Aviation Training (GAT) office in cooperation with the Joint Aviation Authorities Training Organisation (JAA TO).

The spokesman explained that the TIC is segmented into two parts and is offered to aviation professionals at TRAINAIR PLUS Centres.