Yemisi Izuora
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has sanctioned four scheduled and non-scheduled airline operators for various degrees of violations.
According to the regulator, one of the airline’s Air Operator Certificate has also been suspended for 180 days.
The NCAA said on Sunday that during a spot inspection carried out by its Aviation Safety Inspectors on those operators, a number of deficiencies, including the non-implementation of training programmes for maintenance personnel as required, and irregularities concerning Helicopter flight identification were found.
It added deliberate violation of regulations, performing maintenance programme without necessary approval, and using outdated manual were also discovered.
“All these findings were found to be in violation of the regulations,” the NCAA said in a statement signed by its General Manager, Public Relations, Mr Sam Adurogboye.
“Consequently, the various operators were fined between N1.5m and N2m. While the operator involved in the deliberate violation of the regulations had its Air Operator Certificate suspended for 180 days,” the statement added.
It said that the agency had, however, ensured that the affected personnel in question in the employment of one of the airlines were trained accordingly.
“NCAA wishes to reassure all stakeholders that it will continue to ensure that standard operating procedures are strictly followed. The NCAA expects strict compliance with the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations in the future and violations will be viewed seriously,” the agency said.