The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCCA) has revealed through its Acting Director-General, Chris Najomo the suspension of the operating license of three private jet owners for carrying out commercial flight operations, as against the annexure provision of their PNCF and Part 9114 of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations. This announcement was made by Najomo in Lagos today during the presentation of the agency's project for 2024. To ensure strict compliance with directives, the authority deployed its officials to monitor the activities of private jets at terminals across the airports in the country and as a consequence of this heightened surveillance.
Najomo said"In line with our zero tolerance for violation of regulation, the Authority has suspended the PNCF of these operators. To further sanitize the general aviation sector, I have directed a re-evaluation of all PNCF to be carried out on or before the 19th of April 2024 to ascertain compliance with regulatory requirements.”PNCF holders must submit relevant documents to the authority within the next 72 hours."
"This riot act is also directed at existing Air Operator Certificate (AOC) holders, who utilize aircraft listed on their PNCF for commercial charter operations."It must be emphasized that only aircraft listed in the operation specifications of the AOC are authorized to be used in the provision of such charter services. Any of those AOC holders who wish to use the aircraft for charter operations must apply to the NCAA to delist the affected aircraft from the PNCF and include it in the AOC operation specification."
NCCA appealed to travelers not to patronize any airline charter operator who does not have a valid Air Operators Certificate issued by the NCCA when they wish to procure charter operation services.
This development is coming shortly after a private jet departing from the Federal Capital Territory crash-landed near the Ibadan airport.
Reacting to the development, the National Safety Investigation Bureau criticized the operator, Flints Aero Services Limited, for conducting a non-commercial flight with a permit.
