Nigeria Air undergoing security clearance — NCAA
By Seun Ibiyemi
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has confirmed that the process of issuing an Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) for the proposed national carrier, Nigeria Air, is ongoing.
Director-General of the agency, Capt. Musa Nuhu, who disclosed this, however, said he could not ascertain when the license would be issued, fuelling uncertainty over the take-off of the national carrier which the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika had assured would commence operation this month.
Speaking with journalists in Lagos, the DG disclosed that the carrier is undergoing security clearance.
He said, “The only thing I can tell you is that the promoters of that airline have applied and their AOC is ongoing. I don’t have any assurance of when the licenses would be.
“You see, when you apply for AOC or any certification, some issues are not completely under the purview of NCAA like seeking security clearance for the applicant, security agents do that.
“I don’t have control over security agencies to give such clearances. They have applied and it is ongoing, we are waiting for security clearance.”
The Federal Government had said the proposed carrier would be wholly private sector driven while it would only hold five percent stake.
While 46 percent goes to Nigerian entrepreneurs, the remaining 49 percent would be reserved for strategic equity partners including foreign investors, according to the Minister.
On airfare hikes and the recent dusts raised by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) about anti-competition practices, the NCAA helmsman said the deregulation of airfares was not so unfettered that the airlines can do as they please.
He said, “FCCPC has its own functions, which are different from that of NCAA. FCCPC deals with consumer protection and NCAA deals with air transport regulation, which I think still deals with the issue of airfares.
“All airlines are supposed to, at the beginning of each year to file their airfares to NCAA and most of the airlines do that. However, during the year, if the airfares are going to be higher than the ones filed before the NCAA, the airline is supposed to notify NCAA. Then, we will do our reasonableness check and if we are good with it, we tell them to go ahead, but if not, we will tell them no.
“It is not an unfettered deregulation that they can do as they like, there are guidelines to that in our regulations,” he explained.
