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Aviation experts jittery over Cat-1 status retention

By on March 29, 2014

Experts in the Nigerian aviation sector have raised fears that the country may likely not retain the Category One status.

The experts said recent occurrences as well as the many uncompleted projects in the sector might count against the country during the United States Federal Aviation Agency audit scheduled to hold from Monday.

Nigeria attained the Federal Aviation Administration International Air Safety Assessment Category One certification on September 18, 2010, and has operated for more than three years as a Cat1 country, one of the only three in Africa and the only one in the West African sub-region.

One of the benefits of the Cat-1 certification is the fact that due to the enhanced safety rating, insurance premium, which is one of the most significant operating costs of airlines, will be more reasonable.

It also ensures favourable leasing/lending terms from financial institutions for airline operators, and increases the volume of traffic into the country annually.

As a result of the Cat-1 certification, Nigerian registered aircraft began to operate directly into the United States, thus putting a stop to the previous wet lease arrangements that were prevalent in the industry.

However, with the recent removal of the Minister of Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah, and some top officials, industry analysts are doubtful that the nation can retain the Cat-1 status.

Analysts also explained that the country seemed not to have put the necessary things in place to ensure that the status was retained.

The President, Aviation Roundtable, Capt. Dele Ore, who spoke with our correspondent on the development, said the recent sacking of the minister and some chiefs of aviation parastatals had sent a signal to the FAA that all was not well in the Nigerian aviation sector.

He added that the removal of the former Director-General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Capt. Fola Akinkuotu, who barely worked for six months as head of the agency, would have sent the wrong signal to the assessors.

Ore said, “The FAA has been aware of the various issues we were facing in the aviation industry that led to the removal of the former minister. Also, the removal of Akinkuotu, which came as a rude shock to us, was like shooting ourselves in the foot.

“All these have shown that we may not have been operating a system that is stable, and may really weigh down against the country in terms of the planned audit by the US FAA.”

 

 

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