The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said the United States of America’s reported ban on Nigeria Airlines is unrelated to safety or regulatory issues.
The NCAA, in a statement signed by its acting director general, Chris Najomo, on Monday night, said the ban, which happened in 2022, was a result of the fact that Nigeria had no Indigenous operator providing 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 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 to put this report in its proper perspective.
“To operate in the United States of America, Nigeria, like most countries, must satisfactorily pass the International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) Programme and attain Category 1 status. Upon achieving this status, Nigerian airlines would be permitted to operate Nigerian-registered and dry-leased foreign-registered aircraft in 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 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) conducted another safety assessment on Nigeria in 2014. A further safety assessment was performed on Nigeria in 2017, after which Nigeria retained her Category One status.
However, after September 2022, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) delisted Category One countries that, after two years, had no Indigenous operator providing service to the U.S. or carrying the airline code of a U.S. operator. Also removed from the Category One list were countries where the FAA needed to provide technical assistance based on identified areas of non-compliance with 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, so Nigeria was expected to be de-listed, as were other countries who fell within this category. Therefore, Nigeria was delisted in 2022 and duly informed of this action in 2022.
I would like to clarify that Nigeria’s de-listing has 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.