The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has listed the troubled Topbrass Aviation, FirstNation Airways and Kabo Air among the airlines with “not-active, suspended or expired” Air Operator’s Certificates (AOCs) in the country.
Also listed by the regulatory agency were Associated Aviation Limited, Chanchangi Airlines Limited, Hak Air Limited, King Airlines and Travel Limited and Skyjet Aviation Services Limited.
A document obtained from the regulatory agency indicated that 38 airlines were issued and re-issued AOCs between February 3, 2016 and January 9, 2019.
Out of the numbers, eight of them had expired, suspended and not-active AOCs, which had prevented them from operating either as scheduled or chartered flight operators.
Among the affected carriers were non-scheduled, scheduled, cargo and charter flight operators.
For Topbrass Aviation, the document revealed that the airline with the AOC certificate number: TBA/AOC/11-11/03 had, which was issued on February 3, 2016 and expired on February 2, 2018, failed to renew the certificate. Topbrass Aviation was with the status non-scheduled before the expiration of the certificate.
Recalled that the management of Topbrass Aviation had been having a running battle with NCAA over two aircraft it leased, but allegedly refused to act according to the leasing agreements.
The aircraft, Bombardier Dash-8 Q300s with the registration numbers 5N-MSN 61TBB and 5N-TBC MSN 614 are currently issues of litigation in the Federal High Court.
Another airline on the list is FirstNation Airways, which suspended flight operations about two years ago after it could not lease an aircraft to boost its flight operations.
The airline with the AOC certificate number: FNA/AOC/10-11/02 was re-issued AOC on July 31, 2017 and was expected to remain active till July 30, 2019, but it’s with the status “not-active” on the NCAA document and was downgraded to non-scheduled operator from a scheduled status it was about three years ago.
Also listed among the airlines with not-active AOCs was Kabo Airlines, which does annual hajj operations to Saudi Arabia.
The airline with the AOC number: KAL/AOC/01-15/01, was issued with the certificate on January 30, 2017, but became “not-active” on January 29, 2019.
As at the time of filing this report, it was not clear if the airline had commenced renewal of its AOC, as preparation had reached the top gear for the 2019 annual hajj exercise to Saudi Arabia.
Besides, another carrier on the list was Hak Air, which in 2013 acquired five Boeing 737 aircraft for domestic operations, but was yet to spread its wrings six years later.
Some of the acquired aircraft are at the airside of the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos.
According to the document, Hak Air with the AOC registration number: HAK/AOC/04-12/001, was issued thee AOC on July 24, 2017, while it would expire on July 23, 2019.
The document revealed that while the AOC was still current, it remained “not-active for the airline with the current status of non-scheduled.
Besides, Chanchangi Airlines, which suspended flight operations about seven years ago, also had a “not-active: status in its AOC with the number: AAF/006.
The document revealed that the airline’s AOC, which was renewed in February 5, 2017, expired on February 4, 2019. The carrier’s promoter, Alhaji Amadu Chanchangi, had died in April 2017chairman of Chanchangi Airlines.
Others were Associated Aviation, which crashed 31 seconds after takeoff at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in 2013.
The status of the airline stated that its AOC with the mark: ASS/AOC/06-15/001 was suspended by the regulatory agency.
The last AOC issued it was on June 20, 2017 and was supposed to run till June 19, 2019. The airline was registered as a non-scheduled operator by the regulatory agency.
Also, the document revealed that NCAA had renewed and issued AOCs to two airlines in 2019. The first one was Aero Contractors with the certificate number: ACN/AOC/12-12/08.
The AOC was re-issued the carrier on January 2, 2019 and would remain valid till January 1, 2021 as a scheduled, cargo and charter flight operator.
The other airline issued AOC in 2019 was ANAP Business Jets. The airline was issued on January 9, 2019 and would remain valid till January 8, 2021. The current status is non-scheduled operator.
Other airlines like Air Peace, Arik Air, Allied Air, Azman Air, Bristow Helicopters, Caverton Helicopters, Dana Air, Executive Jet, General Global Aviation, Max Air, Med-View Airline, OAS Helicopters, Omni-Blu Aviation, Overland Airways, West Link Airways and Quroum Aviation all have valid AOCs with “active” statuses.
