The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) recently suspended the permit of three private jet operators for violating regulations by engaging in commercial flights.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Acting Director General of the NCAA, Chris Najomo, announced the suspension of the three private operators, and emphasized that the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, had previously ordered the cessation of the use of private jets for commercial purposes by 2023.
Despite the order, these operators continued to engage in such activities, leading to this suspension.
“Subsequently, in March 2024, the NCAA had issued a stern warning to holders of the permit for non-commercial flights, PNCF, against engaging in the carriage of passenger-cargo or mail for hire and reward,” Najomo stated.
“The Authority had also deployed its officials to monitor activities of private jets at terminals across the airports in Nigeria.
“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.
“In line with our zero tolerance for violation of regulations, the Authority has suspended the PNCF of these operators.”
Names of the suspended private jet operators were, however, not revealed in the statement.
Najomo added: “To further sanitize the general aviation sector, I have directed that a re-evaluation of all holders of PNCF be carried out on or before the 19th of April 2024 to ascertain compliance with regulatory requirements.
All PNCF holders will be required to 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 operations specification.”
He reiterated that the travelling public should not patronise any a irline charter operator who does not hold a valid Air Operators Certificate issued by the NCAA, when they wish to procure charter operations services.
He encouraged the legitimate players in the aviation industry to report the activity of such unscrupulous elements to the authorities promptly for necessary action.
