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Why Nigeria lost aviation category one status, by DG NCAA
The Acting Director-General of Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Chris Najomo said the delisting of Nigeria from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) category one status has absolutely nothing to do with any safety or security deficiency in the country’s oversight system.
He noted that Nigeria has undergone comprehensive International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Safety and Security Audits and recorded no Significant Safety Concern (SSC) or Significant Security Concern (SSeC) respectively.
The NCAA, he noted continues to adhere strictly to international safety and security standards and respects the sovereignty of States, including the United States of America, as enshrined in Article One of the Convention on International Civil Aviation.
This provision, he said gives states complete and exclusive sovereignty over the airspace above their territories.
Najomo who was reacting to the exclusive report by Aviation Metric on the delisting of the country further explained that to operate into the United States of America, Nigeria like most countries must satisfactorily pass the International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) Programme and attain Category 1 status.
He further stated that upon attaining this status, Nigerian airlines would be permitted to operate Nigerian-registered aircraft and dry-leased foreign-registered aircraft into the United States, in line with the existing Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA).
He however disclosed that the reason for the delisting was simply because no Nigerian operator has provided service into the United States using a Nigerian-registered aircraft within the 2 years preceding September 2022 so it was expected that Nigeria would be de-listed as were other countries that fell within this category.
Consequently, Nigeria he reiterated was therefore de-listed since 2022 and was duly informed of this action in 2022.
His words, “It is important to clarify here that the de-listing of Nigeria has absolutely nothing to do with any safety or security deficiency in our oversight system. Nigeria has undergone comprehensive ICAO Safety and Security Audits and recorded no Significant Safety Concern (SSC) or Significant Security Concern (SSeC) respectively.
“It is furthermore necessary to add that a Nigerian operator can still operate into the U.S. using an aircraft wet-leased from a country that has a current Category One status”.
The NCAA DG further stated that it is in full realisation of this situation that has since prompted the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo to embark on an aggressive international campaign to empower our local operators to access the dry-lease market around the world which he said culminated in the visit to Airbus in France earlier this year and the MOU signed with BOEING in Seattle, Washington just last week.
The Minister he equally said has also done a lot of work to make Nigeria comply fully with the Cape Town Convention which will bring back the confidence of international lessors in the Nigerian aviation market.
“We are confident that with these steps of the Minister, it is only a matter of time that Nigeria, not only regains but can sustain its U.S. Category One status”, he added.
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