The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has issued a clarification in response to an online report that the United States had banned Nigerian airlines from operating in the country.
In a statement by its Acting Director General, Capt. Chris Najomo, the NCAA said that to operate in 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).
“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 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.
“Also removed from the Category One list were countries who the FAA was not providing technical assistance to based on identified areas of non-compliance to international standards for safety oversight.
“No Nigerian operator has provided service into the United States using a Nigerian registered aircraft within the 2-year period preceding September 2022, so it was expected that Nigeria would be de-listed as were other countries who fell within this category.
“Nigeria was, therefore, de-listed since 2022 and was duly informed of this action in 2022.
“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 who has a current Category One status.
“The 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.
“Furthermore, it is in full realisation of this situation that has since prompted the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. 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 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.
“We are confident that with these steps of the Honourable Minister, it is only a matter of time that Nigeria not only regains but can sustain its U.S. Category One status.”
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