Experts seek amendment to NCAA 2006 Act
…lament agency’s economic regulation weakness
Experts in aviation industry are seeking amendment to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Civil Aviation Act 2006.
They are seeking amendment to a bill to amend the CAA Part 12 (1), (2), (3) a-e and the establishment of a Nigerian Civil Aviation Commerce Board (NCACB) with an enabling power and provisions to make regulations, prescribing the manners of exercising and carrying out duties and functions under the Civil Aviation Act 2006 and the standards that the board needs to achieve compliance to Bilateral Air Services Agreements (BASA) Commercial Agreements and the necessary amendments on Nig. CARs Part 18 on Economic Regulation.
A former Commandant, Murtala Muhammed Airport Lagos, Grp. Capt. John Ojikutu (Rtd), who spoke to Woleshadarenews at the weekend, said he had already sent proposals to the aviation regulatory body to that effect.
Ojikutu reckoned that an entity like the NCAA, charged with aviation safety and air commerce activities and sometimes with the approval of routes sharing, would betray the checks and balances constructed as safeguards to prevent conflict of interest needed to serve the best interest of the industry and more importantly the safety of the travelling public.
His words: “I have proposals for bills to amend the CAA Part 12 (1), (2), (3) a-e and the Establishment of a Nigerian Civil Aviation Commerce Board (NCACB) with an enabling power and provisions to make regulations, prescribing the manners of exercising and carrying out duties and functions under the Civil Aviation Act 2006 and the standards that the board needs to achieve compliance to BASAs, Commercial Agreements and the necessary amendments on Nig. CARs Part 18 on economic regulation.”
He further stated that the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that certified the NCAA with Category 1 was not formed to have a role in air commerce, a function, he said was contrary to its responsibility and designated to another agency in the US Department of Transport.
Another stakeholder, who declined to give his name in print, said aviation needed to have a huge say in economic regulation particularly BASA and other commercial agreements.
A quick look at economic regulations of the agency in its 2006 Act shows that in pursuit of the realization of the regulation of the economics of airport and air navigation services, the unit draws its powers from Part IX, Section 30, Subsections 2(p) and 4(r) of the Civil Aviation Act, 2006, which give NCAA power for the regulation of aviation charges and establishment of a mechanism for the economic regulation of airports and air navigation service charges, in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) recommended practices.
Part IX, Section 30, Subsections 4(b) & (c) of CAA, 2006 mandates the Airline Financial Health Unit to carry out the evaluation and analysis of the operations of all Nigerian registered airlines in order to determine their financial capability to carry out safe flight operations.
It would be recalled that the NCAA had equally been accused of doing enough to check the financial health status of many of the carriers that operate one or two airplanes.
Many Nigerian airlines suffer under capacity. They do not have enough aircraft to operate both domestic and international service. Many of them are also cash strapped so they find it difficult to service international routes as long as they would establish themselves and begin to make profit.
