Nigeria Air’s application to proceed to phase two of the process of obtaining its Air Operators Certificate (AOC) was denied by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
The NCAA stated in a letter dated June 2, 2023, that the certification process cannot progress to phase two due to the lack of a “formal application form” and other “necessary documents.”
The letter reads:
The authority is in receipt of your letter dated May 25, 2023, on the above subject matter.
Quite contrary to our earlier letter of 16th May 2023, which enumerated the documents to be submitted with the formal application form OPS 002, your letter of request to proceed to phase two has no inclusion of a formal application form and the necessary documents referenced in the formal application form.
Hence, the certification process cannot progress to phase two without these required documents.
Please be reminded that your post holders’ letters of commitment to Nigeria Air have a tenure of three months and as such expire now.
According to the NCAA, obtaining the AOC involves five stages.
The NCAA appoints a certification team and processes the pre-application statement of intent form (AC-OPS 001) during phase one. There will be discussions about all regulatory requirements, the formal application and attachments, and any other related issues. This procedure typically takes one week to complete.
Moving on to the second phase, intending entrants must submit a formal application with documents and manuals (including the curriculum vitae of key management personnel) for evaluation. The formal application phase should take no more than two weeks.
The NCAA will review the applicant’s manuals, as well as other related documents and attachments, in the third stage to ensure compliance with applicable regulations and safe operating practices.
The document evaluation phase should take at least three months. The NCAA’s scrutiny then moves to the fourth stage: demonstration and inspection — a critical stage of the process that occurs only after a satisfactory documentation evaluation phase.
At this stage, the certification team will conduct a thorough audit of the applicant’s premises to ensure that the proposed procedures are effective and that the applicant’s facilities and equipment meet the NCAA’s regulatory requirements.
Other demonstrations, such as emergency evacuation and ditching, will also be carried out in phase four, and if these exercises are successful, a demonstration flight will be carried out. The demonstration and inspection phase must last at least two months.
The fifth and final phase is certification, which means that once the airline has met the civil aviation (air navigation) regulatory requirements, the NCAA will issue the AOC with the appropriate specifications and ratings.
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