The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has commenced the assessment of Nigerian’s aviation sector with a visit to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) yesterday. A four-member team from the FAA arrived Nigeria Over the weekend to conduct the audit which would take place from August 21 to 25, 2017.
NCAA said the FAA officials would assess the state’s aviation law, regulations, and oversight capability in accordance with the eight critical elements as defined in ICAO document 9734. During the assessment, the team would need to visit the facilities of an Airline Operators Certificate (AOC) holder and also look at the operations and maintenance organizations.
At the end of the assessment, there would be a debriefing session at the headquarters of the NCAA. If certified, FAA would renew the Category One Safety Status, which it awarded to Nigeria in August 2010, when the country was able to meet its stringent safety standards.
The Category 1 Safety Status means that Nigeria has complied with international air safety standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Also Nigerian airlines can fly to the US and for the country’s registered commercial aircraft to fly to Nigeria. In August 2010 Nigeria Obtained this certification, and then United Airlines, Delta Air Lines started flying to Nigeria and Arik Air started flying to US destinations with Nigerian registered aircraft.
FAA Category I Safety Status is important in the air transport sector because other international carriers and aviation institutions use it along with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) certification to take decisions on the safety status of every country on airline operation.
