NCAA Clarifies U.S. Flight Status for Nigerian Airlines
NCAA: Nigeria’s De-listing from FAA Category 1 Due to Inactivity, Not Safety Concerns
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) on September 2, 2024, clarified that Nigeria’s de-listing from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Category 1 status is due to inactivity, not safety concerns.
The NCAA stated, “To operate into the United States of America, Nigeria, like most countries, must satisfactorily pass the International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) Programme and attain Category 1 status.”
The authority outlined that Nigeria first achieved this status in August 2010 and maintained it through subsequent assessments in 2014 and 2017. However, in September 2022, the FAA de-listed countries that had not operated flights to the U.S. using their own aircraft or a U.S. airline code within the preceding two years.
“No Nigerian operator has provided service into the United States using a Nigerian registered aircraft within the 2-year period preceding September 2022, so it was expected that Nigeria would be de-listed as were other countries who fell within this category.”
“It is important to clarify here that the de-listing of Nigeria has absolutely nothing to do with any safety or security deficiency in our oversight system,” the NCAA noted.
“Nigeria has undergone comprehensive ICAO Safety and Security Audits and recorded no Significant Safety Concern (SSC) or Significant Security Concern (SSeC) respectively.”
According to the NCAA, Nigerian airlines can still operate flights to the U.S. using wet-leased aircraft from countries with current Category 1 status.
