The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, (NCAA) has disclosed that the Air Operating Certificate, (AOC) of Nigeria Air, the planned national carrier is in process.
Musa Nuhu, director-general NCAA on Wednesday said the promoters of Nigeria Air have applied for AOC and the process is still ongoing.
Nuhu said he has no assurances yet on when the license would be issued because, like all other airlines that apply for AOC, there are some issues that are not completely under the purview of the NCAA such as seeking security clearance for the applicant.
He explained that security agents are in charge of issuing security clearances to the applicant, adding that he doesn’t have control over security agencies to give such clearances.
“Nigeria Air has applied and it is ongoing, we are waiting for security clearance,” he said.
Speaking on the reason why NCAA is extending AOC for some operating airlines, Nuhu said in a bid to renew AOC, there are certain conditions and processes that must be completed and If for whatever reason, either from the operator or the NCAA, the process cannot be completed before the expiration of the AOC, it will be extended.
“Extension is for the system to continue to ensure that all regulatory requirements are complied with for the renewal. Sometimes for some reason, some operators are not able to meet certain requirements on time or maybe on our own part, we cannot complete the process, then, we say instead of disrupting the system, we give them an extension for that period so that they can continue their operations.
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“Before the extension completes, their renewal is given. So, we look at the situations and give them extensions while we continue to work to complete the renewal process. Renewal is not automatic. It is a process with steps, which must be completed,” the DG said.
On the maximum period of extension, he said the most NCAA has given is 90 days, adding that it is hardly more than 30 days.
“We do this thing so that the system will keep functioning. You can imagine if we are unable to complete the process either on the part of the airline or NCAA, we now ground one or two airlines, can you imagine the chaos that we will have in the industry?,” Nuhu said.
Speaking on airfare increase, he said at the beginning of each year, all airlines are supposed to file their airfares to NCAA and during the year, if the airfares are going to be higher than the ones filed before the NCAA, the airline is supposed to notify NCAA.
He said NCAA will do its reasonableness check and if it is satisfied with it, NCAA will tell the airlines to go ahead, but if not, NCAA will refuse.
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