Why airlines violate flight approvals

• FG plots post COVID-19 reforms for aviation
•  Airlines’ recapitalization on the card, NCAA to review regulations

For flouting conditions of flight operations occasioned by the closure of Nigeria’s airspace, a United Kingdom-based aviation company, Flair Air, has its Brazilian made Embraer 135 aircraft impounded by the Federal Government.

Specifically, Flair Air operated a commercial flight as against the humanitarian operations it was given approval to operate to Nigeria.

The aircraft is currently grounded in Lagos.

Woleshadarenews learnt that the aircraft came in from Cotonou, Benin Republic at 12:13p.m. and was immediately grounded.The aircraft was operated by Flair Jet.

Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika, confirmed this on his official twitter handle, saying the crew of the flight was also being interrogated.

Sirika promised maximum penalty for the offence.

According to him, “Flair Aviation, a UK company, was given approval for humanitarian operations, but regrettably we caught them conducting commercial flights. This is callous! The craft is impounded, crew being interrogated. There shall be maximum penalty. It is wrong time to try our resolve!”

A source close to the Ministry of Aviation, who preferred anonymity, said the minister was irked by huge lies by airlines to conduct humanitarian flight services into the country only to discover that they engage in commercial operations.

According to the source, “Clearance and approval for essential/humanitarian operations as a result of COVID-19 becomes illegal when it is then converted into commercial operations for hire and reward.”

Our correspondent learnt that many operators, including wealthy Nigerians, hide under the ‘Emergency and Humanitarian’ flight permits window granted by the Federal Government to critical flight services to violate President Muhammadu Buhari’s order to bring down the spread of the deadly virus.

Not only do they violate the President’s directive, the deception of hiding under such essential flights makes the Ministry of Aviation to grant permission to enter the country’s airspace; a breach of the country’s internal security.

Granting of flight clearance and approval to any airline or aircraft under the current airspace restriction is herculean task because the operating aircraft would be required to undergo rigorous scrutiny to ensure that it was flying in to conduct the operations which it was approved.

Not a few said the strict approval attached to humanitarian flights under the COVID-19 situation may have put a spanner in the wheels of Air Peace from evacuating stranded Nigerians in Canada.

The Canadian government had declined to give approval to Air Peace, saying the airline was not known to them because it was not a scheduled carrier to the North American country and also because it classified its planned operation to the country as purely commercial.

But an aviation expert, Hamza Bukar said Canada was deliberately putting a spanner in the wheels, stressing that the country should have liaised with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for proper understanding that Air Peace is approved to carry out the operation.

In a related development, Sirika is said to be planning a wide range of measures to reposition the country’s aviation industry post COVID-19 pandemic.

A source in the Ministry of Aviation said among the measures are plans to work out modalities for airlines that want to merge to make them formidable.

The new policy could see the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) come up with guidelines to ensure that each airline have minimum of six aircraft before it can be issued with Airline Operator Certificate (AOC).

The aviation regulatory body is said to be tinkering with the idea of another round of recapitalization for airlines with a view to ascertaining their health.

All the reforms would come into effect after the review of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulation (NCAR 2015). The NCAR 2015 replaces NCAR 2012 which is an improvement on the later.

Not a few people agree that the NCAA should cause audit of airlines in the country as there were palpable fears that some of them might be found short of passing the stiff regulatory test particularly at a period COVID-19 pandemic has wrecked the fortunes of airlines all over the world.

Nigerian carriers are said to be small, weak and fragmented with many welcoming reforms that would help the aviation industry and airlines to reach their potentials.

Wole Shadare