No Ban Placed On Nigerian Airlines By US Govt, Says FG

On Monday, the US authorities denied reports that any Nigerian airlines have been banned.

Chris Najomo, who is now serving as the director general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), made the announcement in a declaration.

The International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) program awarded Nigeria, along with other nations, a category one permit in 2010. Nigeria was re-evaluated and found to be in compliance with US FAA standards in both 2014 and 2017. But in 2022, Nigeria was delisted since it hadn’t met the terms of the permit.

We must emphasise that there is zero correlation between any safety or security issue with our oversight mechanism and Nigeria’s de-listing. No major safety concern (SSC) or substantial security breach (SSeC) was found during Nigeria’s thorough ICAO safety and security audits.

It should be added that a Nigerian operator can still enter the US with a wet-leased plane from a nation that is now a Category One.

Article One of the Convention on International Civil Aviation establishes that the NCAA shall respect the sovereignty of governments, including the United governments of America, and shall continue to adhere rigidly to international safety and security standards. “The airspace above their territories is completely and exclusively under the sovereignty of the states,” the declaration added.

Indigenous airlines are required, among other things, to serve the US market or to use the airline code as an operator in the US. Ultimately, the US government made its judgement in 2022 because no Nigerian airline met these requirements, as stated in the announcement.

According to the statement, the delisting of Nigeria is unrelated to any issues with the NCAA’s supervision system’s security or safety.

The article detailed how Nigerian airlines can enter the US using planes that have been wet-leased from a nation having a category one visa.