NIGERIA MASTERWEB DAILY NEWS

*Nigeria Attainment of Category1 Status

-*National Carrier, Not A Prerequiste For FAA Cat1 Attainment -Demuren, DG, NCAA

By Lateef Lawal

The attainment of Category1 Status of the United States of America’s Federal Aviation Administration (US-FAA) is not one of the set requirements. This clarification was made by the Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority(NCAA), Dr Harold Demuren to correct the wrong impression created in the minds of the public by certain section of the Nigerian Press lately.

One of the requirements for the attainment of Category1 Status, he asserts is the certification of at least one Nigerian airline in accordance with the new Safety Regulations stipulated in the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations of July, 2009. Nigeria, he says has just completed this process of re-certifying and issuing an Air Operator Certificate(AOC) to Ark Air, a Nigerian registered airline which is already designated and has been flying the US using foreign registered aircraft. ( Continues below..... )

Photo Above: An Airborne Plane

According to Demuren, other Nigerian airlines, whether flying domestic regional or international are also to go through the re-certification process to ensure very high safety standards and erase the era of recording fatalities in our airspace through plane crashes. "Our target is zero accident and zero fatality. Our commitment in this aspect is total. As an airline operator, you must obey our safety regulation 100 per cent for you to continue in operation", Demuren was quoted as saying.

Demuren pointed out that 80 per cent of countries that have attained Category One Status do not have national carrier and that if there was any need to establish a national carrier now, that decision is that of the Federal Government and is not tied to the country’s quest toward attainment of the most valued safety standard.

According to him, Nigeria has adhered strictly to all the eight critical safety elements sighted by FAA and made sure that, "all the eight critical elements of the ICAO Safety Oversight which is what FAA Category One is all about have been closed by NCAA". ( Continues below….. )

The next stage in the pursuit of Cat1 which is the Mock Audit(FAA Technical Review) was carried out on July 26, 2010 by a team of Inspectors from FAA which is the last final assessment preparatory to the attainment of FAA Cat1.

The NCAA DG therefore appealed to Nigerians especially the media to see the Cat1 process as a national project, requiring the support of all, and added that, "false and misleading statements would only cause unnecessary distraction and jeopardize the strides already attained, especially as the process is nearing completion. Cat1 will put Nigeria aviation on the premier league and we assure all that Nigerian aviation will meet all international standards."

Lateef Lawal (NigerianAviationNews)

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*Tags: Nigerians, FAA, Category1, Abuja, Lagos, Africa, Masterweb