The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) may have finally nailed the coffin of the proposed and controversial Nigeria Air by denying its request to proceed to the Phase two of Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) certification for failing to include the relevant documents with Formal Application Form.
The refusal by the NCAA is contained in a letter titled, “Re: Request to Proceed to Phase Two of AOC Certification” dated June 2,2023 with reference number NCAA/DOLTS//GEEN/Vol. III/16123, addressed to the Managing Director of Nigeria Air and signed by Capt. O.O Lawani for the Director General of NCAA.
The letter to the Managing Director of Nigeria Air , which AbelNews stumbled on was in response to the one earlier written by the imaginary airline
“The authority is in receipt of your letter dated 25th May 2023 on the above matter.
“Quite contrary to our earlier letter of 16th May 2023 which enumerated the documents to be submitted with Formal Application FormOPS 002, your letter of request to proceed to phase two has no inclusion of a Formal Application Form the necessary documents referenced in the Formal Application Form. Hence, the Certification process cannot progress to Phase Two without these required documents.
“Please be reminded that your Post Holders letters of commitment to Nigeria Air has tenure of three months and as such expire now.
“Accept the assurances of our highest regard,” the letter reads.
To be granted AOC by the NCAA, an airline must undergo five processes .They are:
* Phase 1 – Pre-Application Phase
- Phase 2 – Formal Application Phase
- Phase 3 – Document Evaluation Phase
- Phase 4 – Demonstration and Inspection Phase
- Phase 5 – Certification Phase.
However, the proposed Nigeria Air which most stakeholders believed was imaginary was on Phase one of the certification; the Pre-Application stage.
AbelNews recalls that the outgone Aviation Minister, Senator Hadi Sirika tried to launch the airline through the back , a situation that was resisted by Airline Operators of Nigeria(AON) and other stakeholders.
As at the time the airline was purportedly launched in Abuja by the outgone Aviation Minister, Nigeria Air was in phase 1 of AOC certification.
