Harold Demuren, director-general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said yesterday that Nigeria has the highest air safety standard in Africa, and that following this result, the country is currently assisting many African nations to achieve the highly coveted Category one (CAT 1) status.
Demuren also stated clearly, that the NCAA would not bend aviation rules for anyone, for any reason.
The CAT 1 is a safety certification awarded by the United States Federal Aviation Administration (US-FAA) to countries that have clean safety records and have met all regulatory requirements, as prescribed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
In 2010, Nigeria achieved a Category 1 air safety rating from the U.S FAA International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) programme.
This means that Nigeria complies with international air safety standards set by ICAO, the United Nations’ technical agency for aviation that establishes international standards and recommended practices for aviation practice.
Demuren, while responding questions at the BuisnessDay In-house Briefing ‘, also observed that by 2015, Nigeria would displace some countries such as South Africa, from being the countries with the biggest fleets of private jets. This, according to him, shows the stability and trust Nigeria’s civil aviation regulations have put in place.
He added that even-though in the course of the fight to restore global aviation authorities and travellers’ confidence in the sector, the regulator stepped on many toes, it was however working in the interest of the nation today, because the continent still looks to it for advice and support in their quest for the CAT1 certification.
“We have letters from Angola, Mozambique and others, requesting that we put them through on how to achieve the highest safety standards; we are currently working with Ghana on how to also do that, because they need to separate their aviation agencies before they can achieve that status. We might also have stepped on many toes because of compliance, but that is why we are where we are today”, he said.
Demuren disclosed that as part of ongoing efforts at enforcing the standards, the Authority has made it mandatory for all domestic airlines to install the flight tracking and reporting system on board their aircraft, in order to monitor flight movements at all points.
“Our decisions are very painful, I have revoked about 40 Air Operators’ certificates in the course of the reform that led to the formation of the 2006 civil aviation act; we affect peoples’ lives, we cannot afford to joke with safety standards”, he said.
Speaking on ageing workforce in the aviation sector, Demuren disclosed that it would be a disaster for the sector if the current ageing personnel left the scene without trained young professionals to fill the vacuum.
He however said that the authority is currently planning to allow more private sector participation in the training of aviation professionals including pilots and engineers.
“We look forward to having private flying schools where pilots will train to build up their flying hours in order to be absorbed into the system as soon as they graduate”, he added.
“We have enough manpower in the NCAA but for the sector as a whole, we do not have enough pilots and engineers. The air traffic controllers too are ageing, the young ones are going out for greener pastures, the solution is training and retraining and that is why we need to have a flying school to build up hours for pilots”, the NCAA boss said.
On airport certification, Demuren vowed that the Authority would not certify any airport in Nigeria until it meets the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards, adding “NCAA will not bend the rules for any purpose”.
“It is in the interest of the travelling public to certify those airports, but FAAN is yet to comply with those requirements”, he added.
He however said that contrary to reports that Nigeria has the highest charges, taxes and levies in the world, the country’s levies are still lower than some countries such as the United Kingdom and US.
He noted however that ‘too many leakages’ were responsible for the reasons people believe the charges are high.
“It is not true that the charges are higher in Nigeria, for instance, we charge 5 percent on ticket sales, UK charge 10 percent, US charge 11 percent but the leakages here in Nigeria are too many, we need to contain them”, he added.
On his outlook for the sector, Demuren noted that more airlines are expected to come into operations beside the expectations that cargo business will improve the lot of the sector as more terminals for perishable goods are being built.
‘’Aviation must work because it has become the engine room for the economy; we expect more airlines to come in, and the best thing that will ever happen to the sector this year is the remodeling of the terminals which we hope will change travelers’ perception’, he said.
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