NEW TELEGRAPH
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has explained why Nigeria lost its category 1 status which disqualified Nigerian airlines from flying into the United States (US) as required.
This was contained in an announcement signed by the Acting Director General of Civil Aviation, Nigeria, Capt. Chris Najomo, on Tuesday in Abuja.
The statement read, “Nigeria like most countries must satisfactorily pass the International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) Programme and attain Category 1 status to operate in the US
“The attention of the NCAA has again been drawn to a publication about the purported ban on Nigerian airlines by the United States.
Due to the wrong impression such news could create, it has become expedient that we put this report in its proper perspective.
“Upon attaining Category 1, 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 said.
Najomo recalled that the first time Nigeria acquired Category 1 was in August 2010, while the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) executed another safety examination on Nigeria in 2014.
According to him, a further safety assessment was conducted on Nigeria in 2017, after which Nigeria retained her Category 1 status.
The NCAA AD said that with effect from Sept. 2022, the US FAA de-listed Category 1 countries that, after two years, had no indigenous operator to provide service to the U.S. or carry the airline code of a U.S. operator.
Also removed from the Category 1 list were countries, where the FAA was not providing technical assistance, 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 two years preceding September 2022.
READ THE FULL STORY IN NEW TELEGRAPH
