Explains Involvement of Aviation Agencies
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) says the December target of the National carrier commencement is feasible.
Director General of NCAA, Capt Usman Mukhar in an interview pointed out that, once an operator was properly guided and was willing to go by the guidelines and process of getting an Air Operators Certificate (AOC) ,it takes just 90 days.
Usman therefore, assured that, with that timeline in mind, the possibility of the national carrier scaling through was quite feasible within the time frame.
The DG also stated that, the government decided to involve the aviation agencies in the Presidential task force because they wanted the national carrier project done very, very well this time around.
He said “the presence of the agencies inside the task force is to ensure that the right things are done, they are not midwifing in the real sense of the national carrier but they are guiding the process to ensure that it is done in line with the international standards and best practices in the area of safety, security and also comfort of the passengers”.
According to Usman, several airlines came and left, probably because they did not follow the guide given to them, especially now that the civil aviation authority was first, to promote aviation activities in Nigeria and ensure safety, security and comfort.
Emphasising further on government readiness and the plans put in place, the NCAA boss added “this time around, government says we should go and ensure that even before take off that nothing is short circuited, process followed so that they can come to stay, start and stay. The same service we have rendered to every operator that came from the time the operator came at the first phase, coming with the intent that they want to start operating, it is one f the stages in the issuance of the Air Operators Certificate, to the time somebody want to do formal application”.
He equally informed that NCAA guides operators when it comes to documentation and preparations of the manual which they produce, stressing that if there were errors, or corrections to be made, NCAA works to see that everything came out clean.
“All these we did with all of them to the time they come and demonstrate that they are able to do this and then finally we certify them, we have be doing this, so it is not unusual that you find us in that Task Force”, Usman noted.
He stated that they extend these services to all the operators because they go through the five stages of obtaining an AOC, adding that it was the same process, to all the operators and that there was no special treatment given to any operator.
Capt Usman said as far as NCAA was concerned the December target was feasible because the process of obtaining the AOC, the permit and so on could take a minimum of 90 days while on average operators do it for 6 months.
He pointed out that those who spend up to 6 months have issues “because before you move from one stage to another, you must satisfy all the necessary requirements”.
“That is why sometimes the delay is not on the part of the Authority but on the part of the operators. If the operator everything is fine, fine from the operator within 90 days we will be able to give them the certificate to operate. We don’t control other things but as far as we are concerned from our own side it is quite feasible”, Usman said. .
He further added that, although government had put in place a transaction adviser which comprises a consortium of advisers, NCAA would continue to guide them just as the agency had guided other operators to ensure that these things were done properly.