The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has announced the suspension of the operating permit of three private jet companies for engaging in commercial flights.
The acting director general of the NCAA, Mr. Chris Najomo, made the announcement on Tuesday and used the occasion to read the riot act to all airlines.
The NCAA boss said the minister of aviation and aerospace development, Festus Keyamo, gave marching orders for the cessation of the use of private jets for commercial purposes in 2023 but the operators continued in such act.
He added that the authority has also deployed its officials to monitor activities of private jets at terminals across the airports in Nigeria.
He maintained that in line with the ministry’s zero tolerance for violation of regulations, the authority has suspended the permit for non-commercial flights (PNCF) of these defaulting operators.
In a statement on Tuesday, Najomo said, “As a consequence of this heightened surveillance, no fewer than three private operators have been found to be involved in violation of the annexure provision of their PNCF and Part 9114 of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations 2023.
“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 into the AOC operations specification.
“NCAA wishes to reiterate to the travelling public not to patronize any airline charter operator who does not hold a valid Air Operators Certificate issued by the NCAA, when they wish to procure charter operations services.
“Finally, NCAA encourages the legitimate players in the aviation industry to report the activity of such unscrupulous elements to the authority promptly for necessary action.”
