- It wasn’t due to any safety or security concerns
The Federal Government has refuted claims that Nigeria was delisted from the United States Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Category One aviation status due to security deficiencies.
According to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Nigeria lost its Category One status in 2022 because no Nigerian carrier had operated flights to the U.S. for two years, not due to any safety or security concerns.
The clarification follows reports from two national newspapers suggesting that Nigerian airlines had been barred from operating to the U.S., affecting carriers like Air Peace.
Acting Director General of the NCAA, Captain Chris Najomo, explained that the FAA periodically reviews countries under its International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) Program. Nigeria first achieved Category One status in August 2010 and retained it following safety assessments in 2014 and 2017. However, in September 2022, the FAA delisted countries, including Nigeria, that had no indigenous operators flying to the U.S. for two years.
Najomo emphasized that Nigeria’s delisting had nothing to do with any deficiencies in safety or security oversight. He added that Nigerian airlines could still operate into the U.S. using wet-leased aircraft from countries with Category One status.
He also highlighted the efforts of the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, to bolster Nigeria’s aviation sector, including campaigns to enhance the dry-lease market and compliance with international conventions, such as the Cape Town Convention. These initiatives aim to restore and sustain Nigeria’s Category One status.