NCAA Gears-Up for Cat 1 Certification Re-assessment

Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said that all hands are on deck to ensure the certification is retained, following a notification by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to re-assess Nigeria’s category one certification.

Precisely on 18th of September, 2010, the aviation industry witnessed an epoch making event that changed the face of aviation in Nigeria and globally as Nigeria attained the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) International Air Safety Assessment (IASA) Category One Certification.

Addressing a press conference on the readiness of the country in view of the re-assessment, Captain Fola Akinkuotu, director general of the Authority, said that FAA has once again written to inform us (NCAA) that they will be visiting Nigeria for the mandatory assignment.

FAA’s condition attached to certification is that there will be a re - assessment of the receiving country after every three years, the DG said.

Akinkuotu said: “Towards this re-assessment, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority is putting all hands on deck to ensure that the nation acquits itself very well in the impending exercise.

“To this effect, a Technical Committee has been inaugurated to provide fillip and drive all the preparation process. Membership of this committee is drawn from the Flight Safety Group (FSG) directorates .These are Directorate of Airworthiness Standard (DAWS), Directorate of Licensing (DOL) and Directorate of Operations and Training (DOT),” he said.

Others members of the Committee are Directorate of Finance and Accounts (DFA), Directorate of Human Resources (DHR), Directorate of Administration (DOA) and the Legal department. The Chairman of the Technical committee is Capt Abdullahi Sidi, the Director of Operations and Training while the secretary is Dr. W.T.Haggai Ag. Head, Aeromedical Standards.

The term of reference of the technical committee is to ensure adequate preparation for the FAA Category 1 Re – Assessment Audit.

He said that all staff of NCAA are ready and prepared for the Audit, “if there is no air transport there is no need for NCAA. The Reassessment is to ensure that our processes are right.

“They want to receive assurances that the high standards that gave us the certification are sustained,” the NCAA boss added.

He reiterated that the Cat 1 certification, apart from the safety rating, is a business catalyst that is capable of employing hundreds of thousands of Nigerians and the entrepreneurial proceeds derivable from it.

“Perhaps I need to reiterate the benefits of Cat 1 which as you are all aware have impacted positively the aviation industry.

“Due to the enhanced safety rating, insurance premium for airlines has been reasonable. This is one of the most significant operating cost for an airline.

“IT will engender much more favourable leasing/lending terms from financial institutions for our airline operators.

“As we have been witnessing, the volume of traffic into the country has been increasing annually in the aftermath.

“The influx of scheduled commercial airlines operating into the regional hub for West Africa and there has been business and cultural exchange in the region.

“Our statistics clearly informed us of astronomical increase in commerce and volume of cargo movement which has seen aviation contributing to the nations’ economic growth.

“The certification has made the industry attractive to foreign and local investors which have culminated in accelerated development of our local carriers who are now code sharing with foreign operators.”