The Acting Director-General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Chris Najomo, has frowned on the nefarious activities of illegal private jet operators in the country, stressing that they pose a serious threat to the country’s aviation industry.
Najomo who described those behind the illegality as ‘Cartel’, said their activities have negatively impacted the fortunes of the genuine and licensed charter operators, vowing that the aviation regulatory body had concluded plans to publish the names of the operators of the illegal business and to warn Nigerian elite not to fly aircraft not duly registered with the NCAA.
The NCAA DG made the remarks when he met with some stakeholders in the aviation sector in his office in Lagos, as a follow-up to an incident involving a Flint Aero aircraft carrying the Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu from Abuja to Ibadan Airport in November, which crashed inside the airport, with the preliminary report by the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) indicating that the ill fated flight was on illegal charter operation.
According to Najomo, holders of Air Transport Licence (ATL) and Airline Operating Permit (AOP) with valid AOC are the only authorised operators to carry out charter operations.
He said many times, private jet owner clandestinely turn their aircraft into charter operations.
Emphasising the position of the agency against illegal operations, Najomo cited the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs) 2015 Part 18.2.3.1, which stipulates that “No person shall use any aircraft in Nigeria for hire and reward in the public transport category to provide non-scheduled or charter air service unless such a person holds an ATL or Airline Operating Permit (AOP) issued by the Authority.”
Najomo, therefore, warned that any members of the public transacting business with any unauthorised operators will be doing so at a high risk, as such operations may not have valid insurance cover.
“Charter operators are no longer making money because owners of private jets are not duly registered for the operations they carry out which are risky to the aviation industry. It is a cartel and we are publishing their names and asking Nigerian elite not to fly them.”
Promising that the NCAA would continue to ensure strict compliance to safety regulations, Najomo warned that violations of the safety rules would be viewed seriously, adding that illegal charter operations pose a serious safety hazard to the travelling public, adding the aviation regulatory work aggressively to identify and shut down rogue operators.
Illegal charters can take a variety of forms including but not limited to: companies that don’t have the required certificates; use aircraft that are not on their authorised aircraft list; use unqualified pilots; offer ride-sharing; try to transfer operational control of the flight to the customer; operate under one rule when they are required to operate under a different rule; and when the customer and the company act in concert to sign a lease that doesn’t include crewmembers, but the company then directs the customer to use a specific flight crew
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
