Chinedu Eze
Aviation experts have criticised the proliferation of airlines without Air Operator Certificate (AOC), warning that it may lead to safety breaches in the near future.
The experts are of the view that instead of allowing them to operate with other airlines’ AOC, the state governments can acquire aircraft, paint their livery on them and lease them to existing airlines.
This, they stated, will ensure that the operators with AOC will completely manage the fleet.
The experts said professionally, these airlines may have met the conditions to operate under other airlines’ AOC, as enshrined in the regulation.
But they warned that this could compromise safety when their operations are not effectively supervised.
They noted that as long as the state governments are concerned, they own these airlines and are fully running them, funding manpower development and supervising training with the consent of the airlines they are operating under their AOC.
The stakeholders also argued that the states that own these airlines may not seem in a hurry to obtain their own AOC, having been given leverage by the aforesaid arrangement.
They are worried that with the current trend, other state governments may take the same system to establish their own airlines, predicting that in the long run, it may lead to safety breaches.
They also advised the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to put a cap to this policy because it is “becoming unwholesome trend.”
Apart from Ibom Air, airlines like Enugu Air, Cally Air of Cross River state, Pioneer Air of Bayelsa, Gateway Air of Ogun state are all operating without AOC.
The Managing Director and CEO of Aero Contractors, Captain Ado Sanusi, said airlines with AOC must ensure operation control of the airline operating under its licence in accordance to the regulation.
“Nobody Knows Cally Air, Enugu Air, Gateway Air in the industry except the airlines they operate under their licence; but to the public, these airlines exist and this creates a challenge because if the rules are not well defined, an infringed passenger may find it problematic who to report to. You have ticketed the passenger and you are using another airline’s AOC. If not well defined there could be conflicts,” Sanusi said.
He suggested that instead of operating their own airlines under other airlines’ AOC, the state-owned airlines should negotiate dry lease contract with the airlines with AOC and put the names of their states on the aircraft.
Sanusi said if this arrangement is well spelt out the leased aircraft can still serve the state as planned by operating agreed schedule from the state to other destinations while the airline that leased the aircraft will maintain it, deploy and train the technical staff.
“I am not privy to the conditions they have done these things but I think the best would have been a dry lease and they will put the name of the state on their aircraft. Aero Contractors had an arrangement with Cally Air and they gave us the aircraft on lease for operation and maintenance,” he said.
However, the Managing Director of Chinua Achebe International Airport, Umueri, Anambra state, Martins Nwafor, told THISDAY that as airlines issued AOC by NCAA, which the state-owned airlines are operating under their licence, are recognised as the operators of the aircraft in the fleet of the state-owned airlines.
“They are not known to NCAA as AOC holders. NCAA knows Xejet and ValueJet which are accountable to NCAA on flight engineering and quality, scrutinizing their airworthiness to ensure they met the standard,” Nwafor who was a former senior official at NCAA, said.
But the Director, Airworthiness Standards, NCAA, Godwin Balang, threw more light on the different operational certificates awarded to airlines by NCAA.
Balang explained to THISDAY that NCAA has economic licence and safety certificate.
“When you get economic licence, you then require safety certificate, which is AOC to operate as an airline. But the first thing you must have is the economic licence in accordance with your business plan, which NCAA issues in collaboration with the Ministry,” he said.
“I can own an aircraft but I may not be the operator. The AOC holder must meet the specifications in which the aircraft will be listed as equipment operated by him, including the safety of the aircraft,” he explained.
Ideally, the AOC owner takes charge of the maintenance control, which are safety issues. The operator also schedules the aircraft in the fleet and carries out the training of the flight crew but all these could be negated and more states are floating airlines to come and join the market.
However, the stakeholders who raised issues about the arrangement indicate that the AOC operators may concede some critical responsibilities to the airlines using their certificate which may have safety implication; therefore, NCAA must make sure that the aircraft operated by the state-owned airlines and under the care of AOC owners are effectively checked.
