Lagos — Some good news came the way of Nigeria's aviation industry yesterday as the country attained the United States Federal Aviation Admi-nistration (FAA) International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) certification, known as Category 1 Status.

With this status, Nigeria's air safety rating has been enhanced and now puts the country in the premier league of nations that are highly rated in air transport in the world.

Henceforth, Nigerian registered aircraft can fly direct to any state in the United States with its Nigerian crew. Category 1 countries usually enjoy lower insurance premium for aviation industry. This will save millions of dollars for Nigerian airlines.

Also, Category 1 countries are very attractive to aircraft lessors that lease aircraft to airlines because it is believed that the country's airlines will have high level of maintenance standards.

The US Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr Robin Sanders, handed over the certification to the Director-General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr Harold Demuren, in Abuja yesterday.

The Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Fidelia Njeze, while accepting the certification on behalf of the Federal Govern-ment, identified the gains of the new safety rating.

Njeze, who was elated, noted that Category 1 status "offers Nigeria a golden opportunity to become number 1 regional hub for West Africa and Central Africa," which means that Nigeria would be operational centre for both regional and international airlines from which they connect to other countries in the two regions of the continent.

Announcing the certification, Sanders said that with the attainment of Category 1 status, Nigeria would comply with international air safety standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the United Nations' technical agency for aviation that establishes international standards and recommended practices for aircraft operations and maintenance.

"This achievement is an important milestone for Nigeria and the US-Nigeria bilateral relations. It is only fitting that this coveted Category 1 rating comes at the dawn of the nation's year of golden jubilee. The US Mission, NCAA and FAA have worked together as a team in the true spirit of bilateral partnership over the last two years to achieve this goal. Hats off to everyone for a job well-done and rating well-deserved," she said.

She said the FAA International Aviation Safety Assessment Category1 rating was based on the results of a July FAA review of the NCAA.

"With the IASA Category 1 rating, Nigerian air carriers may now apply to operate to the laws and regulations necessary to overseas air carriers in accordance with minimum international standards, and its civil aviation authority-equivalent to the FAA for aviation safety matters-meets international standards for technical expertise, trained personnel, and recordkeeping and inspection procedures."

Sanders also warned Nigeria not to go to sleep after attaining this status, noting that it could be withdrawn if the country fails to continue to meet the aforementioned standards.

Njeze assured the ambassador that Nigeria would do anything to ensure that it retained the status, acknowledging that some countries that achieved the certification lost it when they failed to maintain the standards that qualified them to attain it.

"Some countries that attained Category 1 have lost it when they allowed their safety standard to drop. As Nigeria attained Category 1 today, the work has just begun," she said.

THISDAY spoke with Chris Ndulue, the Deputy Managing Director of Arik Air, the first Nigerian airline that was recertified and issued with the new Airline Operators Certificate (AOC), on how Category 1 would affect the airline's operations to the United States.

He said now that Nigeria has attained Category 1, Arik Air would register the aircraft it is using for Lagos-New York flights in Nigeria and fly Nigerian crew, adding that in the long run it would save the airlines a lot of money.

"We have to deregister the aircraft and then register it in Nigeria before we can stop using high flyer code (foreign crew and code) and as a safety-conscious airline it will take us some time. We are going to have a cost reduction operating to the US now. We pay for high flyer for us to fly to the US , but now we shall do it ourselves. It will also enable us to get the International Operational Safety Audit (IOSA). There are so many benefits of Category 1. A lot of other airlines will be able to work with you because you are from a Category 1 country," he said.
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Also, the CEO of IRS Airlines, Isyaku Rabiu, said: "This is a very positive development for Nigeria. Category 1 means that the civil aviation in Nigeria is capable to monitor operations of the airlines in terms of the operational standards, safety standards, maintenance standards and other regulations. NCAA has worked very hard to enable us attain this certification. There are so many benefits including Nigerian airlines flying directly into America."

Demuren told THISDAY: "We're very happy on this development and it means Nigeria has joined the Ivy League in the aviation industry it is an evidence that efforts put by Nigeria to guarantee safety of air travellers are paying off."

However, the decision does not evaluate the safety of Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, or the abilities of its civil aviation authorities.

Questions were raised about the airport's safety after Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to bring down a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day with an explosive device hidden beneath his clothes.

He began his journey at the Lagos airport, where the device was not detected-but neither was the device detected in Amsterdam, where he took the connecting flight to the US.

Link:    http://allafrica.com/stories/201008240202.html

have the FAA been to Lagos airport?