Arik Air gets European Aviation Safety Agency’s (EASA) Authorisation

Arik Air, West and Central Africa’s largest carrier has again scored another first by receiving the European Aviation Safety Agency’s (EASA) Third Country Operators (TCO) Authorisation to fly into any European Union (EU) country.

Arik Air is among the 590 global airline operators that successfully completed the stringent certification process before the deadline of 26th of November, 2016 given by EASA. Arik Air is also the only operator in Nigeria to get this authorisation which is a requirement for all non-European airline operators to fly into European Union (EU) countries.

In the past, airline operators were required to apply for operating permits from each European country. EASA came up with new requirements in 2014 which stipulated that any airline operator from outside the EU flying into the EU must fulfil stringent safety, security, quality and operational requirements and comply with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) safety standards by the 26th of November, 2016 which was set as the deadline to complete this audit for Authorisation.

Under the new rule, the “EASA TCO” approval is a single Safety Authorisation valid in all EASA member states and outlying territories and after this deadline, airlines from non-EU countries would not be permitted to operate into the EU without this Authorization.

Over 700 Non-EU airline operators applied for this certification when the new requirement was introduced in 2014. After the stringent audit, EASA has approved only 590 operators including Arik Air as the only airline from Nigeria and no other major scheduled airline operator has this certification in the West and Central African region.

Commenting on this achievement, Chris Ndulue, Arik Air’s Executive Vice President, said the certification is a further testament to the airline’s high maintenance, security, safety and operational standards.

“This certification is a testimony of our commitment as a quality airline, consistently adhering and operating to international safety and operational standards”, Ndulue stated.

Ifeoma Okeke