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.
A new law by the United States apex aviation regulatory body, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stipulates that nations whose carriers fail to operate to the United States under the ‘Open Skies’ agreement between it and the US. for at least two years will have its entire sector and airlines designated to America undergo recertification.
The recertification involves a whole process that includes scrutiny of airport security, airport facilitation, airline audit and the type of aircraft to be used for the operations to the US by the designated airline or airlines.
The new rule which came into effect a few months ago has technically delisted Nigeria from the category one aviation status.
The implication is that no designated airline from Nigeria can operate to the US at the moment except through a third country.
Egypt, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Morocco, and South Africa are the African countries on the FAA Category One list. The countries on the category one list are said to meet ICAO standards while countries on category 2 are said to be countries that do not meet the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Standards.
In a statement released on Tuesday in Abuja, Captain Chris Najomo, Acting Director General of Civil Aviation, clarified that Nigeria’s airlines can only operate flights to the US upon successfully passing the International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) Programme and achieving Category 1 status, a prerequisite also applicable to other countries.
Category 1 status is entirely unrelated to any safety or security lapses within the nation’s oversight framework.
Najomo highlighted Nigeria’s successful completion of comprehensive International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Safety and Security Audits, which yielded no Significant Safety Concern (SSC) or Significant Security Concern (SSeC) findings.
He underscored that Nigerian airlines can continue to operate in the US by wet-leasing aircraft from countries maintaining Category 1 status.
Najomo further reiterated the NCAA’s steadfast dedication to adhering to international safety and security standards, while acknowledging and respecting the sovereignty of other nations, including the United States, as outlined in Article 1 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation.
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”.
