By Ken Afor
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has announced the suspension of three private jet operators for violating regulations around commercial charter flights in the country.
In a statement issued by the acting Director-General, Chris Najomo, on Tuesday, said the three private operators were found to be conducting charter operations in violation of the provisions of their Portable Non-Diplomatic Clearance Form (PNCF) and Part 9114 of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations 2023.
The NCAA sternly warned that this enforcement applies not only to private operators, but also to existing Air Operator Certificate (AOC) holders who are using aircraft listed on their PNCF for unauthorized commercial charters.
“It must be emphasized that only aircraft listed in the Operation Specifications of the AOC are authorized to be used in the provision of such charter services,” the statement noted.
The NCAA, therefore, nstructed any AOC holder wishing to use an aircraft for charters to first apply to the NCAA to delist it from the PNCF and include it in their AOC specifications.
“It must be emphasized that only aircraft listed in the Operation Specifications of the AOC are authorized to be used in the provision of such charter services. Any of those AOC holders who wish to use the aircraft for charter operations must apply to the NCAA to delist the affected aircraft from the PNCF and include it into the AOC operations specification,” noted.
In the statement, the aviation authority reminded the traveling public not to use any charter operator lacking a valid Air Operators Certificate issued by the NCAA when procuring charter services.
“NCAA wishes to reiterate to the travelling public not to patronize any airline charter operator who does not hold a valid Air Operators Certificate issued by the NCAA, when they wish to procure charter operations services,” the statement added.
The NCAA also encouraged legitimate aviation industry participants to promptly report any such “unscrupulous elements” conducting unauthorized charters to the authority for further action.
It would be recalled that in 2023, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, had issued a directive to all private jet operators to stop using their aircraft for commercial use.
However, despite warnings, the operators persisted, prompting the NCAA’s heightened surveillance in the sector.
