The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has addressed recent reports and publication regarding the delisting of Nigeria from US Category 1. The CAA says “it has become expedient that we put this report in its proper perspective,” due to the wrong impression the report could create.
The NCAA clarified that, “the de-listing of Nigeria has absolutely nothing to do with any safety or security deficiency in our oversight system” and confirms that “Nigeria has undergone comprehensive ICAO Safety and Security Audits and recorded no Significant Safety Concern (SSC) or Significant Security Concern (SSeC)respectively.”
The NCAA further stated that “the first time Nigeria attained Category One Status was in August 2010. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) conducted another safety assessment on Nigeria in 2014. A further safety assessment was conducted on Nigeria in 2017, after which Nigeria retained her Category One status.”
However, NCAA recalled that “with effect from September, 2022, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) de-listed Category One countries who, after a 2-year period, had no indigenous operator provide service to the U.S. or carrying the airline code of a U.S operator.”
NCAA says preceding 2022, “no Nigerian operator has provided service into the United States using a Nigerian registered aircraft within the 2-year period preceding September, 2022”, hence the delisting including other countries who fell within this category.
NCAA clarified 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. 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).”
NCAA adds that “a Nigerian operator can still operate into the U.S. using an aircraft wet-leased from a country who has a current Category One status.”
The NCAA noted the efforts of the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Barr Festus Keyamo, SAN, who has embarked on “an aggressive international campaign to empower our local operators to access the dry-lease market around the world which culminated in the visit to AIRBUS in France earlier this year and the MOU signed with BOEING in Seattle, Washington just last week.”
The Honourable Minister 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.” The NCAA assures that with these steps, “it is only a matter of time that Nigeria, not only regains, but can sustain its U.S. Category One status.”