Nigeria’s aviation industry suffers a major blow as the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) delists the country from its Category One Status, citing failure to meet international safety and security standards.
The delisting means no Nigerian airline can operate direct flights to US cities or airports until the country is re-audited and re-certified by the FAA. Industry experts attribute this to Nigeria’s failure to meet the new US FAA rule requiring direct flights to the US for at least two years.
“The sad thing about Nigeria is that since we signed ‘Open Skies’ agreement with the US, we were not operating to the country,” said an industry expert. Arik Air, the sole Nigerian airline on the Lagos-New York route, suspended operations to the US in 2017.
Grp. Capt. John Ojikutu (rtd) blames the delisting on the government’s negligent oversight and enforcement of safety and security regulations. Engr. Femi Adeniji advises equipping the NCAA with trained inspectors and digitizing regulations to regain prime status.
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Capt. Mohammed Badamasi questions the NCAA’s ability to close gaps noticed in the last safety and security audits by ICAO, highlighting the need for internal audits and improvement.
