Summary
- Nigeria lost its US FAA Category One status due to not flying to the US.
- To regain status, Nigeria must pass safety audits conducted by the FAA.
- Airlines may fly to the US via a third country due to restrictions.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Nigeria has revealed that the country was de-listed from the United States Federal Aviation Administration Category One safety status purely because none of the Nigerian operators were flying into the US and not because of any safety or security concerns. The de-listing was in line with the FAA policy rather than anything else.
No services for over two years
The US
Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) has de-listed Nigeria from the agency’s Category One safety list, which means none of the Nigerian registered carriers can now perform normal flight operations to the US. However, none of the Nigerian registered carriers have flown to the US in the past four years, and according to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), this was the reason for the country’s de-listing by the FAA.
The New Diplomat reports that the nation was delisted because none of the airlines based in Nigeria had operated flights to the United States for over two years.
Photo: Adomas Daunoravicius | Shutterstock
The FAA has removed countries from the list that have not had any “indigenous” carrier operate services to the US or codeshare with an airline based in the US for over two years, along with countries where the FAA has not interacted with the respective CAA for extended periods of time.
The report further indicates that Nigeria first attained Category One Safety in 2010, after which the country maintained this status during subsequent FAA audits held in 2014 and 2017. It was also reported that Nigeria passed audits conducted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) without significant safety concerns.
Regaining Category One status
Since the country lost its category one safety status, none of the airlines based in the country can currently operate direct flights to the US. However, should any of the airlines wish to restart services to the US in the future, the first thing that has to be done is to get the FAA to perform safety audits and collaborate with the NCAA to have Nigeria reinstated within the FAA’s Category One safety list.
Photo: InsectWorld | Shutterstock
To have their status reinstated, the country will have to pass the FAA’s International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) done in the country, which includes eight key elements that need to be satisfied:
|
1. |
Primary Aviation Legislation |
5. |
Technical Guidance |
|
2. |
Specific Operating Regulation |
6. |
Certification Obligation |
|
3. |
State Civil Aviation System and Safety Oversight Functions |
7. |
Surveillance Obligation |
|
4. |
Technical Personnel Qualifications and Training |
8. |
Resolution of Safety Issues |
Other options available
In a hypothetical scenario wherein a Nigerian airline wishes to restart services to the US, the airline does have the option to fly to the US via a third country. While this is possible under ICAO’s Freedoms of The Air, it could potentially be complicated to receive approval to perform such flights.
Additionally, the airline would also have to embrace any operational or scheduling challenges that could arise in terms of aircraft utilization and crew duty times.
Photo: Oleksii Halutva | Shutterstock
Realistically speaking, passengers from Nigeria wishing to fly to the US (or the other way around, for that matter) can currently fly either with the limited services offered by
Delta Air Lines
and
United Airlines
to Lagos or by connecting through a third country. Within Africa, there are five countries that passengers can use, each with services to the US:
|
Country |
Egypt |
Ethiopia |
Rwanda |
Morocco |
South Africa |
|---|