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

The Federal Government on Monday said there is no ban placed on any Nigerian airline by the US government.

The acting Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Chris Najomo, disclosed this in a statement.

He said in 2010, Nigeria like other countries attained the permit of category one of the International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) programme and in 2014 as well as 2017 a re-evaluation was done by the US Federal Aviation Administration and Nigeria passed but due to the inability to meet up with the requirements of the permit, Nigeria was de-listed in 2022.

“It is important to clarify here that the de-listing of Nigeria has absolutely 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.

“It is furthermore necessary to add that a Nigerian operator can still operate into the U.S. using an aircraft wet-leased from a country who has a current Category One status.

“The NCAA continues to adhere strictly to international safety and security standards and respects the sovereignty of States, including the United States of America, as enshrined in Article One of the Convention on International Civil Aviation. This provision gives States complete and exclusive sovereignty over the airspace above their territories,” the statement read.

Among the requirements is for Indigenous airlines to provide services to the United States or carry the airline code as a US operator and according to the statement, no Nigerian airline fulfilled this criteria thus the decision by the US government in 2022.

The statement further said that the delisting of Nigeria has absolutely nothing to do with security or safety deficiency in the NCAA’s oversight system.

It explained that Nigerian airline operators can still fly into the US using an aircraft wet-leased from a country with a category one permit.