Aviation stakeholders want the removal of expiry certificate date

Aviation stakeholders have called on the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to take a cue from other developed aviation industries across the world by obliterating the expiry date in the Air Operators’ Certificate (AOC) issue to indigenous airlines.

This is as the National Assembly has promised to as a matter of urgency pass the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulatory (NCAR) Bill immediately it resumes from its recess. The bill is presented at the second reading in the National Assembly.

Various speakers at a conference organised by the 25th Annual Conference and Awards of League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) on Wednesday in Lagos with the theme: Nigeria’s Aviation Industry: Management, Policy and Regulation’ described the current mode of AOC acquisition as archaic and unnecessary.

Capt. Ibrahim Mshelia, the Chairman, West Link Airlines, in his presentation at the event lamented that the Nigerian aviation industry in Nigeria was battling too many oppressive forces, including processes that lead to the acquisition of AOC.

Mshelia who was the Chairman of the occasion observed that a situation where an operating airline was compelled to renew its AOC every two years was anti-progress.

Besides, a lamented that in Nigeria, irrespective of the mode of operations and specifications airlines are made to undergo the same rigorous processes, stressing that nowhere else in the world are operators are given such stringent conditions before they could commence flight services.

He added: “With the lopsidedness in the procurement procedures and the operational limits of AOC holders in Nigeria, there is an urgent need to amend our Act and policy in this area, to empower the civil aviation to also break down the certification process of our commercial operations.

“The word AOC has been so over-valued like a village masquerade that appears once in five years. This is not supposed to be so. Operation specifications in this regard are the masquerade and not the certificate.

“Today, we have an unhealthy situation where there is a blanket issuance procedure of AOC for big, small, or large operations. Under this system, the roles of other segments of operators that are also entitled, by law, to operate commercial operations, unfettered as guaranteed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), is not spelt out. By ICAO standard, small, large and medium operations, including; Air Taxi, Air Charter, Cargo Only, nonscheduled and Scheduled operations and others are recognised

Also, Engr. Femi Adeniji, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), TAL Helicopters explained that in other climes like the United States, for instance, AOCs are acquired for life unless such an airline has issues, which grounded its

He argued that the same could be replicated in Nigeria, and called on NCAA to amend its regulations and put them in tandem with developments around the world.