The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority has revealed that the United States Federal Aviation Administration has downgraded Nigeria from its Category One status under the International Aviation Safety Assessment program.
The downgrade is attributed to the absence of Nigerian airlines operating direct flights to the United States for the past two years.
This status change means Nigerian carriers will be unable to offer direct flights to any U.S. city or airport until Nigeria is re-audited and reinstated to its previous Category One status by the FAA.
Nigeria initially achieved this status in August 2010 after a rigorous five-year evaluation process.
The downgrade follows a period of declining aviation standards and the fact that no Nigerian airline has operated direct services to the U.S. for seven years.
Stakeholders have cited these factors as contributing to the loss of the Category One rating.
In response, Acting Director-General of the NCAA, Chris Najomo, emphasized that maintaining Category One status is crucial for operating flights to the United States.
He noted that, like other countries, Nigeria must meet the FAA’s safety assessment standards to regain its former status.
“Upon attaining this status, Nigerian airlines would be permitted to operate Nigerian registered aircraft and dry-leased foreign registered aircraft into the United States, in line with the existing Bilateral Air Services Agreement.
“The first time Nigeria attained Category One Status was in August 2010. The US Federal Aviation Administration conducted another safety assessment on Nigeria in 2014. A further safety assessment was conducted on Nigeria in 2017, after which Nigeria retained her Category One status.
“However, with effect from September 2022, the US Federal Aviation Administration de-listed Category One countries who, after a two-year period, had no indigenous operator providing service to the US or carrying the airline code of a US operator,” the NCAA stated on Monday.
He added, “Also removed from the Category One list were countries to who the FAA was not providing technical assistance to based on identified areas of non-compliance to international standards for safety oversight.
“No Nigerian operator has provided service into the United States using a Nigerian registered aircraft within the two years preceding September 2022. So it was expected that Nigeria would be de-listed as were other countries that fell within this category. Nigeria was, therefore, de-listed in 2022 and was duly informed of this action in 2022.”
He further clarified that the delisting does not indicate any safety violations by Nigerian airlines. He emphasized that the Nigerian aviation sector has undergone comprehensive safety and security audits, maintaining high standards despite the status change.
“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. Nigeria has undergone comprehensive ICAO Safety and Security Audits and recorded no Significant Safety Concerns or Significant Security Concerns respectively.
“It is furthermore necessary to add that a Nigerian operator can still operate in the US using an aircraft wet-leased from a country that has a current Category One status,” Najomo noted.
