Market News

•NCAA: Nigerian airlines can fly to US with leased aircraft 

•Insists delisting not due to safety concerns 

•Arik Air says its takeover downgraded Nigeria’s aviation industry

BY  Chinedu Eze

Nigeria has been delisted from the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Category One Status (USFAA CAT 1) International Aviation Safety Assessment Programme (IASA). This means that no Nigerian registered carrier can operate to any US destinations until Nigeria returns to the status.

Nigeria was delisted because no Nigerian registered airline had operated to the US for about seven years and according to the new FAA regulation, a Category One status country that failed to operate to US after two years will be delisted from the status.

Category One Safety Status means that the country certified by the status has met US safety standard to operate flights to the US, which includes compliance with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards.

To designate and certify a country worthy of Category 1 Status, FAA inspectors will assess the country’s civil aviation authority and determine its licences and oversees air carriers in accordance with ICAO aviation safety standards.

The airlines from the assessed state may initiate or continue service to the United States in a normal manner and take part in reciprocal code-share arrangements with US carriers, as long as that country maintains the safety standard that earned it the certification.

Nigeria gained the USFAA CAT 1 Status in August 2010 after a rigorous exercise that spanned about five years, but due to the failure of any Nigerian airline to operate directly to the US for seven years, the country was delisted.

FAA’s International Air Safety Assessment (IASA) programme determines whether a country and its airlines will be allowed to fly into the US.

Reacting to the report, Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Chris Najomo, in a statement, explained that the decision taken by USFAA had nothing to do with safety.

Najomo stated, “To operate into the United States of America, Nigeria, like most countries, must satisfactorily pass the 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).

“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, with effect from September, 2022, the US FAA de-listed Category One countries who, after a two-year period, had no indigenous operator provide service to the U.S. or carrying the airline code of a US operator. Also removed from the Category One list were countries who the FAA was not providing technical assistance to base on identified areas of non-compliance to international standards for safety oversight.”

Najomo stated that no Nigerian operator had provided service into the United States using a Nigerian registered aircraft within the two-year period preceding September 2022. He said it was expected that Nigeria would be de-listed, as were other countries who fell within this category.

Nigeria was de-listed since 2022 and was duly informed of this action in 2022.

The NCAA director-general said, “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 US using an aircraft wet-leased from a country who has a current Category One status.”

According to Najomo, NCAA 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 gives states complete and exclusive sovereignty over the airspace above their territories.

Najomo said, “Furthermore, it is in full realisation of this situation that has since prompted the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo (SAN), to embark 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 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. 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 US Category One status.”

Also, reacting to the delisting of Nigeria from by the USFAA Category 1 status, shareholders of Arik Air, in a statement by Lanre Bamgboshe, recalled how FAA inspectors audited the airline and used it to rate Nigeria.

Bamgboshe said the takeover of Arik Air downgraded the industry, hence, the delisting of Nigeria by USFAA.

He stated, “It should be noted that Arik Air invested in the rigorous and painstaking audit and certification programmes that resulted in the Cat 1 certification for Nigeria and Nigerian air operators, in collaboration with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), and the Ministry of Aviation and Arik Air between 2009 and 2010.

“To achieve this, Arik Air made direct investments of over $12 million in engaging a world class consultant, SH&E from USA, to develop manuals, procedures, supervise and facilitate the implementation of the Cat 1 certification process.

“SH&E USA assisted the Nigerian civil aviation authorities and Arik Air, to train several professionals to achieve the USFAA Cat 1 certification for Nigeria and airline operators in Nigeria between 2009/2010.

“During this process, several flights, safety and operations professionals of Arik Air, NCAA and FAAN were trained and certified by USFAA, this is in addition to their respective NCAA certifications. Also, the entire check-in, boarding, security of Nigerian main airports (Lagos/Kano, Abuja & Port Harcourt) related operation support for airlines were enhanced as recommended by the Consultants and approved by FAA.”

Since Arik Air stopped flights to the US in 2017, no registered Nigerian carrier had started operation to any destination in the US.