The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has suspended indefinitely, the Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) of local carrier First Nation Airways (Lagos) for violating the terms of its operations specifications.
The NCAA downgraded First Nation's operational specifications to non-scheduled flights in August last year on discovering it had violated Nigeria's Civil Aviation Regulations (CAR) which require scheduled operators to have at least two functional aircraft in service. However, despite the revision, the NCAA said that First Nation has continued to market its routes as scheduled flights and had "sold tickets at its Check-in counters in Lagos and Abuja Airports."
According to The Daily Trust newspaper, the regulator informed the carrier of the decision in a letter issued on May 11. In the correspondence, which First Nation Airways has since acknowledged, the NCAA said it could not permit the airline to continue operating de-facto scheduled flights using a single A319-100 in contravention of the terms of its non-scheduled AOC.
"The Authority has therefore determined that, pursuant to Section 35(2),(3) (a) (ii) and (4) of the Civil Aviation Act, 2006, First Nation Airways is no longer fit to operate air transport business under the authority of the AOC," the letter said. "Accordingly, the Airline’s AOC has been suspended indefinitely, with effect from May 11, 2018, when it received the notice."
Flightradar24 ADS-B data indicates the carrier has complied with the directive with A319 5N-FNE (msn 660) having conducted its last Lagos-Abuja milk run on May 11.
The NCAA said the AOC is to be returned within seven days of the letter's receipt adding that it may be open to restoring it should First Nation demonstrate the requisite ability and willingness to comply with the extant regulations.
