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Tag: NCAA

  • NCAA gives travel agents ultimatum

    Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has issued a 60-day ultimatum to travel agencies to register and obtain its certificate of registration before carrying out any business in the country.

    Spokesman of the authority, Mr Sam Adurogboye said in a statement.

    He said the ultimatum, which became effective since May 7, 2019, was part of steps taken by the apex civil aviation regulator to instill sanity and orderliness into the operations of travel agencies in Nigeria.

    Besides, he said the authority will be collaborating with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to provide robust regulatory oversight in the down stream of the industry.

     

  • Breaking: Aviation unions shut down NCAA over faulty organogram

    Aviation unions on Monday shut the headquarters of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA over the faulty organogram in the apex regulatory body.

    The unions comprising, Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, ATSSSAN, NUATE, NAAPE said the rally this morning was to draw management and government’s attention to the infraction.

    They were protesting the merger of directorates, scrapping of some positions in the authority.
    The rally was led by ATSSSAN , President, Comrade Ahmadu Illitrus.

     

    Details shortly…

  • Telecoms operators warn NCAA on demolition of 7,000 masts

    The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has warned the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) over its threat to demolish over 7,000 telecommunications mast in the country.

    The Chairman of ALTON, Gbenga Adebayo, gave the warning on Wednesday in Lagos, on the sideline of the ”Vanguard Economy Forum on Telecoms.”

    Adebayo said that any site brought down illegally and without due consultation would not be rebuilt and the consequences would be felt by all.

    He described the move as another way to impose unwarranted taxes on the sector, which was already overburdened with multiple taxation.

    ”Our association went to see the DG of NCAA about three months ago and that was to discuss the issue of Aviation Height Clearance (AHC) and we concluded on a committee to look into it.

    ”It sounds very strange, but also very interesting, because it speaks to the fact that our sector has become the subject of attack from agencies.

    ”So, to the NCAA and the public, I will say if they are going to dismantle those sites, goodluck to them.

    ”As an industry, we are not going to rebuild any of these sites. So what the NCAA is doing is to throw the nation into telecom blackout.

    ”And against that I will say there will be criminal prosecution and there will certainly be security crisis,” Adebayo said.

    According to him, telecommunications remaines ”infrastructure of infrastructure” because other sectors including aviation, banking, health, transport rely on information and communication technology (ICT) to drive their operations.

    Read also: NCAA threatens to demolish over 7,000 telecoms masts

    He said that when attacked, the economy and the people would feel the impact negatively, as blackout would become imminent.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that NCAA has on Tuesday threatened to demolish over 7,000 telecommunications masts erected by Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) providers across the country.

    Mr Sam Adurogboye, NCAA Spokesman, said in a statement in Lagos that the authority was compelled to recourse to this line of action due to the failure of the telecommunications providers to obtain the statutory AHC.

    He said the NCAA had, therefore, issued a 30-day ultimatum to Glo and other defaulters to obtain the AHC, otherwise their masts and towers would be demolished.

    According to him, without Aviation Height Clearance, all these masts and towers constitute danger to safety of air navigation. (NAN)

  • NCAA threatens to demolish over 7,000 telecoms masts

    The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) yesterday threatened to pull down over 7,000 telecoms masts and towers across the country over Aviation Height Clearance (AHC).

    Its spokesman, Sam Adurogboye, told reporters, that the NCAA has given the operators a 30-day ultimatum to get the clearance for their masts.

    He said the aviation industry regulator  was compelled to recourse to this line of action because the telcos failed to obtain the statutory AHC without which the masts and towers constitute danger to safety of air navigation.

    Adurogboye said under the Civil Aviation Act, 2006, Section 30(3)(1), the NCAA is empowered to prohibit and regulate the installation of any structure which by virtue of its height or position is considered to endanger the safety of air navigation.

    He said: ”Furthermore, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs) Part 12.1.7.1.3.1 stipulates that No person or organisation shall put up a structure (permanent or temporary) within the navigable airspace of Nigeria unless such a person or organisation is a holder of Aviation Height Clearance Certificate granted under this Regulation.”

    Consequent upon this provision, the Regulatory Authority requires an Aviation Height Clearance (AHC) approval for every tower installation irrespective of the height and location.”

    Contrary to the regulations, he said promoters of  telecoms and other defaulters have failed to obtain the mandatory AHC which is a violation of safety regulations.

    He said several letters and entreaties sent to the telcos were not responded to despite that they were received by the relevant executives and duly acknowledged.

    He said: ”In addition, Letters of Investigation (LoI) were written and delivered to them with no response recorded till date.”

    He said in a meeting with the Director-General, early this year, the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) members were advised by the DG to ensure they obtain AHC.

    Reacting to this threat, ALTON warned that the NCAA will be putting national security under threat should it go ahead with its threat. It accused the agency of acting against the spirit of the understanding reached at the meeting.

    Its Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo, in a telephone conversation, said the meeting became controversial as it did not agree on the demand for yearly renewal of AHC because the height does not increase. He said an agreement was however reached that an industry working group be set up comprising the telcos and infrastructure providers, adding that while ALTON’s members list was submitted to NCAA, the aviation regulator never did.

    Adebayo wondered if the NCAA has also been given revenue target by the Federal Government to meet, arguing that its action was not driven by safety but by desire to boost revenue generation.

    Adurogboye said at the meeting, representatives  of the companies were present and were asked questions concerning their  refusal to obtain Aviation Height Clearance Certificate.

    He said: “In response, the delegates demanded to be furnished with the location of the masts. A booklet containing the coordinates and location of the masts has since been made available to the organisation.

    “As a result of the meeting, other telecoms providers have implicitly demonstrated considerably compliance by duly obtaining the requisite height clearance from the Authority except for these few defaulters.”

     

  • 29 airlines lost 44,712 luggage last year, says report

    At least, 44,712 luggage were declared missing among 29 local and international airlines that operated within and into the nation’s airports last year, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has said.

    In a report, Air France led the pack with 6,175 missing luggage on the international scene. Air Peace led the other eight indigenous carriers on the domestic scene with 66 missing baggage within the period under review.

    While 41,498 of the missing luggage were retrieved by their owners, the others could not.

    A further breakdown of the missing luggage indicated that on the international scene, apart from Air France with the 6,175 missing luggage, other airlines involved in missing luggage were KLM with 5,088, African World Airlines, 308; Air Cote d’Ivoire, 670; Air Namibia, 221; Arik Air, 172; Asky, 1,167; British Airways; 4,273, Cam Air-Co; 109; Cronos Air; one, Delta Air Lines; 3,473, Egypt Air; 2,448, Emirates; 1,725, Ethiopian Air; 1,946, Etihad; 472, Kenya; 1,152 and Lufthansa with 3,750 missing luggage.

    Others were Mediana; 218, Med-View; 25, Middle East; eight, Mid Africa; 112, Qatar Airways; 1,238, Royal Air Maroc; 2,624, RwandAir; 1,234, South African Airways; 762, Turkish Air; 4,348 and Virgin Atlantic had 1,166 missing luggage within the period.

    On the local scene out of the eight local airlines that operated within the period under review, seven out of them except Azman Air had issues of missing baggage in 2018.

    According to the report, Air Peace had 66 missing luggage with 63 of them recovered within the period. Arik Air recorded 59 missing luggage with 55 of them recovered.

    Also, Dana Air had 34 of its passengers missing with 32 recovered between January and last December, Aero Contractors had six missing luggage with all of them recovered within the period.

    Besides, Max Air recorded four missing luggage with all of them recovered. Med-View and Overland Airways also had two luggage of their passengers missing within the period, but were later recovered.

    In all, last year, 173 luggage were declared missing, but 164 of them were recovered with nine not returned to their owners, according to the report.

    The report further revealed that last year, there were at least 15,645 flights operated on international routes, another 59,818 flights were operated on the domestic routes.

    Besides, the report indicated that last year, no fewer than 734 flights were cancelled by airlines on international and local routes. Of these figures, 190 were cancelled on the international scene, and 544 occurred within the local airlines.

    In all, there were 85 air returns last year; 25 among international carriers and 60 among the local  airlines.

    According to NCAA, the  airlines recorded 70 overbookings between January and December, last year with international airlines recording 11; 59 of such occurred among the eight local carriers.

    The report further stated that air travellers on local and international scenes experienced 92 luggage pilfering across the airports with 63 of such recorded on the international scene and the others on the local scene.

    The regulatory agency’s report emphasised that in the past year, all the international airports in the country recorded a total 1,994,099 in-bound passengers and 2,084,980 out-bound passengers, bringing the number of international passengers to 4,079,079.

    On the local scene, there were 10,092,643 were in-bound and out-bound passengers. Of these numbers, 5,033,669 were in-bound passengers, and the others out-bound passengers.

    The record showed that all the airports recorded 14,171,722 passengers in the past year.

    NCAA stated that its Consumer Protection Directorate (CPD) received 161 complaints from air travellers last year with 99 of such complaints resolved by the directorate.

    The breakdown indicated that the CPD received 74 complaints on the international scene and resolved 36. Of the 87 complaints received from the local  airlines, 63 were resolved.

  • NCAA cautions pilots, operators over thunderstorm

    The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has cautioned pilots and airline operators to exercise caution during flights in hazardous weather conditions.

    The warning was contained in an Advisory Circular (AC) signed by its Director General, Captain Mukthar Usman.

    The AC, Usman said was sequel to the Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) released for this year by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET).

    NIMET has predicted March/April and May/June  as the commencement of rainy season in the Southern and Northern parts of the country, which is usually accompanied with turbulence.

    This, he said  is in addition to microburst, low level wind share and sometimes events that could affect the safety of flight operations.

    He said with this information, it is expected that Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs) may temporarily close the airspace when there are adverse weather conditions.

    The NCAA boss said: “Consequently, “Flight Crews/Operators and ATCs shall ensure strict adherence to aerodrome operating minima in line with standard and recommend practices.

    “In addition, “All pilots are therefore obliged to exercise maximum restraint whenever severe weather condition is observed or forecast by NIMET.

    ”For the purpose of safe flight operations, Pilots/Flight Crew Members should obtain adequate departure, on route and destination weather information and briefing from NIMET Aerodrome Meteorological Offices situated in all the airports prior to flight operations.

    Operators are therefore required to play a key role in ensuring adequate measures are put in place to lessen the effects of the attendant flight delays and cancellations on their passengers as occasioned by this severe weather conditions in accordance with Nig. CARs, Part 19.

    “While the Authority urges all passengers to exercise patience and understanding during this period as their safety is of utmost importance, stakeholders should ensure strict compliance to safety regulations as violations would be viewed seriously.”

  • No Boeing 737 Max 8 flying in Nigerian airspace, says NCAA

    The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) gave assurance on Tuesday on the state of aircraft flying in the country’s airspace .

    The NCAA said there was no cause for worry as no Boeing 747 Max 8 is presently in operation in the country.

    Its spokesman, Sam Adurogboye disclosed this in a statement.

    He assured the flying public of their safety, stating that there is no cause for alarm.

    He said: “Presently, the accident aircraft type, Boeing 737  Max 8 is not in operation in the Country.

    “ However , the Authority, in line with its Safety Oversight mandate enshrined in the Civil Aviation Act 2006, is consciously monitoring the development (s) with a view to take the necessary steps that will enhance the safety of all aircraft in operation within the Nigerian airspace.”

    Recall  that an Ethiopian Airline B737 -Max 8 crashed on Sunday 10th March, 2019 killing all the souls on board after which the Airline and some other countries have grounded the accident aircraft type in their operations.

    He further said: “This is to assure the public that NCAA will continue to ensure that safety regulations are strictly adhere to for the safety of all in Nigeria.

    Our heart is with the Airline and families of the victims of the accident.”

  • Most local carriers delay flights, says NCAA

    Most of the flight schedules of domestic carriers in the country are delayed, data made available by the consumer protection department of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has shown.

    According to the data, six in every 10 flights operated by local airlines are delayed.

    According to a document released by the department, nine domestic airlines operated 59,818 flights between January and December last year.

    Of this figure, 36,350 flights were delayed and 544 flights were cancelled.

    The nine airlines considered in the documents are Aero Contractors, Arik Air, Air Peace, Azman Air, Dana Air, First Nation, Med-View, Overland and Max Air.

    Air Peace, which operated 22,055 flights during the period had 14,067 delayed flights and 137 cancelled flights.

    Out of 15,205 scheduled flights, Arik Air delayed 8,073 flights and cancelled 152.

    According to the document, Dana Air recorded 3,915 delays and 67 cancellations in 5,944 scheduled flights.

    Azman Air recorded 3,242 and 49 delayed and cancelled flights respectively, out of the 4,944 flights operated by the airline during the period under review.

    Also, Aero Contractors operated 4,361 flights with 2,459 delayed and 70 cancellations; Overland, 601 flights with 1,960 delayed and 29 cancellations; and Medview, 2058 flights with 1,256 delayed and 42 cancellations.

    It showed that Max Air recorded 1,151 delays and five cancellations, out of the 2,205 flights operated by the airline.

    Similarly, FirstNation Airways, whose licence has been suspended by the NCAA, recorded 137 delayed flights and three cancellations, out of 445 flights operated within the period under review.

    Public Relations Manager at NCAA, Sam Adurogboye, blamed the problem on infrastructure.

    He said: “Some of these problems are infrastructural related. The government is remodelling most of the airports and this will ease passenger facilitation.

    “By the time these modern facilities are deployed, it will curb unnecessary delays.

    “However, issues like adverse weather or a machine (aircraft) developing a problem cannot be ruled out, and you can’t expect them to fly with a machine that has developed a problem. Those ones happen occasionally.”

  • NCAA yet to identify aircraft with worn out tyre

    The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority ( NCAA ) on Tuesday said it was yet to identify the airline that had a worn out aircraft tyre trending on social media

    Its spokesman, Sam Adurogboye, said though it was yet to establish the carrier whose aircraft allegedly had such a worn out tyre but insisted in line with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Standard and Recommended Practices (SARPs) and Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs) no airline operator can embark on commercial air transportation for hire and reward without airworthy operating aircraft.

    Citing the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs) Part 5.4.1.1, Adurogboye said the Authority only issues a Certificate of Airworthiness for aircraft registered in Nigeria based on satisfactory evidence that the aircraft complies with the design aspects of the appropriate airworthiness requirements (type certificate) and is in a condition for safe operation.

    He said NCAA’s Aviation Safety Inspectors (ASI), who are well trained and motivated carry out routine ramp inspection on all airlines operating in Nigeria.

    He said it is the primary responsibility of the Authority Inspectors to ensure all parts of the aircraft complies with the applicable airworthiness requirements and remains in a condition for safe operation before every flight and throughout its operating life.

    In addition to the Authority oversight roles, NCAA, he said has placed the onerous responsibility of the first line of safety on the operating airlines’ Pilot-in-Command of each flight and the assigned Engineer that authorised each flight.

    Adurogboye said: “With all the various checks and counter checks put in place by NCAA combined with that of the operators, it is therefore improbable that any airline in Nigeria will operate a service with that kind of tyre.

    “However, NCAA wishes to advise the original author of the post or any other individuals with safety related issue, if any to furnish the Authority with the identity of the airline or any of such information to enable us establish the authenticity of the claim and ensure appropriate action.

    “The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) will continue to carry out surveillance on the industry to ensure safety and security of airline operations in Nigeria and it is pertinent to point out that violation is viewed seriously.”

  • Court summons NCAA, FAAN bosses

    A judge of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, Justice Muslim Hassan, has summoned the Director-General of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Cpt. Mukthar Usam and the Managing Director, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Saleh Dunoma.

    They were summoned for their failure to appear in court over contempt charge for tampering with two Bombardier aircraft belonging to Topbrass Aviation.

    They are to appear in court at the next adjourned date fixed for February 28, to explain why they gave orders for tampering of the two Bombardier aircraft in contention between Topbrass Aviation and SeaGold Investment Limited, the lessor of the aircraft.

    The summons was fallout at the hearing of contempt proceedings on January 15 by Justice M. S. Hassan.