The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), said the reported ban of Nigeria Airlines by the United States of America is not connected to any safety or regulatory issues.
The NCAA, in a statement signed by its acting director general, Chris Najomo on Monday night, siad the ban, which happened since 2022 was as a result of the fact that Nigeria had no indigenous operator provide service to the U.S. or carrying the airline code of a U.S operator for two years preceding 2022.
Part of the statement read that “the attention of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has once again been drawn to a publication about the purported ban on Nigerian airlines by United States. Due to the wrong impression such news could create, it has become expedient that we put this report in its proper perspective.
“To operate into the United States of Ameria, 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.”
