NCAA clarifies delisting of Nigerian airlines from flying into U.S.

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has clarified the purported ban of Nigerian airlines by the United States (U.S), saying Nigeria was delisted because no Nigerian airline has been able to fly into the country in the last two years.

NCAA Director General, Captain Chris Najomo, in a statement explained that to operate into the U.S., Nigeria, like most countries must satisfactorily pass the International Aviation Safety Assess- ment Programme and attain Category 1 status, saying upon attaining this status, Nigerian airlines would be permitted to operate Nigerian registered aircraft and dry-leased foreign registered aircraft into the U.S., in line with existing Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA).

He said: “The first time Nigeria attained Category 1 status was in August 2010, 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 1 status.

“With effect from September 2022, FAA de-listed Category 1 countries who, after a two-year period, had no indigenous operator provide service to the U.S. or carry the airline code of a U.S operator. No Nigerian operator provided service into the U.S. using a Nigerian registered aircraft within the period preceding Sept 2022, so it was expected that Nigeria would be de-listed like other countries who fell within this category.

“Nigeria was, therefore, de-listed since 2022 and was duly informed of this action in 2022.”Captain Najomo clarified that the de-listing of Nigeria has absolutely nothing to do with any safety or security deficiency in our oversight system as the country has undergone comprehensive ICAO Safety and Security Audits and recorded no Significant Safety Concern (SSC) or Significant Security Concern (SSeC) respectively.

He further stated that Nigerian operators can still operate into the U.S. using an aircraft wet-leased from a country who has a current Category One status.

He emphasised that NCAA will continue to adhere to international safety and security standards as well as respects he sovereignty of States, including the United States of America, as enshrined in Article One of the Convention on International Civil Aviation.

The DGCA said it is in full realisation of this situation that the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo has embarked on an aggressive international campaign to empower 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.

He added that 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, assuring that with all this bold steps by the Minister, Nigeria will soon not only regain but can sustain its U.S. Category One status.