By Abiola Olawale
Fresh troubles might be hanging above Air Peace, as the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority (UK CAA) has written Nigeria’s Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), over an alleged violation of some aviation safety regulations by the Nigerian airline.
The development came after two mandatory occurrence reports on Air Peace had been reportedly sent to the UK CAA), which in turn, forwarded to the NCAA.
The UK regulator’s letters were entitled; ‘United Kingdom SAFA Ramp Inspection Report with reference number: CAA-UK, -2024-0217’ and ‘NATS Management System Safety Report’, respectively.
The NCAA has also written to Air Peace, to provide clarification on the issues raised by the UK regulator.
The letter, with reference number: NCAA/DOLTS/APL/Vol.11/03624, was titled, “United Kingdom SAFA Ramp Inspection Report.”
It was dated May 14, 2024, and signed by the NCAA General Manager of Operations, Capt. O.O Lawani.
In the letter, the NCAA said the UK CAA had called its attention to the no operational approval of Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) functions affecting the safe operation of the aircraft, while adding that the Captain of the flight admitted that an Electronic Flight Bag was being used for navigational purposes.
NCAA noted that the UK CAA stated in its letter that there was “no mounting device for the use of EFB, no charging points or battery for backup.”
The New Diplomat reports that this development came after Air Peace recently commenced operation at London Gatwick from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, under the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA), which Nigeria has with the UK.
Since Air Peace commenced the Lagos-London route, there have been series of aero-politics, as the price of tickets on the route crashed from over N3m to N1.2m for an economy return ticket.
