A team of experts from the United States of America’s Federal Aviation Administration is due to arrive in Nigeria on Wednesday (tomorrow).
The US officials are coming to carry out another round of a comprehensive audit of the Nigerian aviation industry, which it started last year. They will also determine if the country qualifies to be upgraded to the coveted Category One status.
Nigeria is currently rated Category Two by the US FAA, and an upgrade means Nigerian carriers can operate direct flights to US destinations.
Only three countries in Africa – South Africa, Ethiopia and Egypt, are presently certified as Category One.
Arik, Virgin Nigeria and Bellview Airlines have been designated on US routes to reciprocate the Bilateral Open Skies Agreement signed with the US in 2000.
An American airline, Delta, is already flying into Nigeria. It was formerly two until North American Airlines pulled out last May, citing record high oil prices as its reason.
The audit, also known as the International Aviation Safety Assessment, is expected to measure the extent of Nigeria’s compliance with the safety and security standards of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the global regulator, and that of the US FAA.
The US initiated the IASA programme to ensure that country’s aviation sector with which it has direct links, meet the ICAO and US safety standards.
The Media Assistant to the Director-General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Mr. Sam Adurogboye, told our correspondent on Monday that the team, this time around, would be looking at the three designated Nigerian airlines as well as the NCAA.
He explained that the US FAA officials would be examining some “eight critical elements and the corrective action plans as per identified open items.”
Adurogboye assured that that whole exercise would be over this year, and that the country was on the verge of attaining the prized status.
He said, “We are confident, we will come out shining. The NCAA is fully prepared for the audit. We have prepared the designated airlines also-Arik, Virgin Nigeria and Bellview.”
Direct flights to US and other regions should help the Murtala Mohammed International, Lagos move a step further towards becoming a regional hub and also to grow both passenger and cargo traffic.
Presently, Kenya, one of the fastest growing aviation hubs on the continent, is also putting a lot of measures in place to attain the US Category One certification.
Countries that meet up with the US FAA conditions would have met up with ICAO safety standards as the Category One is rated higher than standard.
The establishment of ICAO after the Second World War included a commitment by signatories to abide by common safety measures in international air transportation. The organisation, however, has limited powers of enforcement.
