US shuts direct flights from Lagos as bilateral window closes

Nigeria has lost the United States Category One status as the country’s airlines failed to operate directly to the country for two years.

The new United States Federal Aviation Administration (USFAA) law says that the failure of any country’s airlines to operate directly to the US for two years or vice-versa would lead to the loss of the Category One Status.

With this removal, Nigerian airlines, including those planning to commence direct flights from Lagos, cannot operate directly to any city or airport in the US until the country is re-audited and re-certificated by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and returned to its former status.

Nigeria gained the USFAA CAT One Status in August 2010 after a rigorous exercise that spanned about five years, but due to the combined factors of drop in standards and the failure of some Nigerian airlines to operate directly to the US for seven years, some stakeholders said the country lost the rating.

“With the situation, the chances for Nigeria airlines to operate direct flights to the United States may be slim. It may not be as bright as it was about three years ago, but there is no gloom as it is not downgrading. Downgrading only comes after the audit and that is what we need. We need to call the FAA back for a re-audit,” Olumide Ohunayo, industry analyst and director of research at Zenith Travels, told BusinessDay.

Ohunayo explained that before now, Nigeria had no reasons to call the FAA for an audit since local carriers were not operating or had no intention of operating into the US.

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He noted that calling the FAA to audit when there was no airline operating the route or positioned to operate the route would have been tantamount to wasting the time of everyone involved.

He said now that Nigerian carriers are showing interest in flying into the US, the country’s aviation regulators would have to do the re-audit with the international body.

“I think we should just prepare for the audit and that will come when we have an airline that is ready to start flying into the US. We need to ensure we work assiduously to retain the Category One when we get it and not be downgraded.

“It is an opportunity to quickly look at the areas of interest, and begin to address key concerns before they come for the audit. The airlines that want to be positioned for this will also be preparing themselves, knowing full well that if they don’t use it, they will not only lose their certification but also their slot,” Ohunayo said.

There are 83 countries either in Category One or Two in the updated list of USFAA.

Egypt, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Morocco, and South Africa are African countries on the FAA Category One list. The countries on the Category One list are said to meet the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards.

Other countries in the Category One Status include: Argentina, Aruba, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Belgium, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Domin­ican Republic, Ecuador, El Sal­vador, France, Germany, Israel, Italy Ireland, Kuwait, Japan, Jordan, Panama, Portugal, Phil­ippines, Romania, Samoa, Sam Marino, Poland, Suriname, Taiwan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates (UAE), United King­dom UK), Uzbekistan, and Vietnam, among others.

The only five countries on Category Two are: Venezuela, Thailand, Russia, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States and Bangladesh.

Arik Air, the only Nigerian on the Lagos-New York route, had, on February 3, 2017, suspended operations to the US, a few days before its takeover by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).

Local airlines may see their plans to launch flights to the two cities hampered until the re-audit and recertification process is carried out and successful, experts say.

However, two United States carriers, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, still operate direct flights to Nigeria from their bases.

John Ojikutu, industry expert and the CEO of Centurion Aviation Security and Safety Consult, told BusinessDay that Nigeria’s status loss is expected against the background of the recent International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) report.

“I warned the regulatory authority last year that the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the US FAA/ Transportation Security Administration (TSA) are watching the happenings in our airports and airspace. The ICAO grading is far lower than the FAA/TSA grading, so when ICAO scored us a fail in its audit report, what do you expect from the FAA/TSA?

“I remember saying that the prospect of any airline planning flights to the US would be doomed if we fell down from Category One. This is not the first time we have fallen down. Nigeria Airways fell down too in 1992 and the US directed that Nigeria Airways must route through Dakar for the rescreening of all onboard passengers, baggage and cargo, otherwise no entry to the US,” Ojikutu said.

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NCAA explains US decision

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has explained why Nigeria was removed from the USFAA CAT 1 International Aviation Safety Assessment programme (IASA).

In a statement by Chris Najomo, acting director- general, Civil Aviation, said the first time Nigeria attained Category One status was in August 2010, noting that U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) conducted another safety assessment on Nigeria in 2014.

He said a further safety assessment was conducted on Nigeria in 2017, after which Nigeria retained its Category One status.

“However, with effect from September, 2022, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) de-listed Category One countries who, after a 2-year period, 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 who the FAA was not providing technical assistance to based on identified areas of non-compliance to international standards for safety oversight.

“No Nigerian operator has provided services into the United States using a Nigerian registered aircraft within the 2-year period preceding September, 2022 so it was expected that Nigeria would be de-listed as were other countries who fell within this category. Nigeria was, therefore, de-listed since 2022 and was duly informed of this action in 2022,” he said.

He stated that the de-listing of Nigeria has absolutely nothing to do with any safety or security deficiency in the NCAA’s oversight system.

He noted that Nigeria has undergone comprehensive ICAO Safety and Security Audits and recorded no Significant Safety Concern (SSC) or Significant Security Concern (SSeC) respectively.