Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Muhtar Usman has explained the recent fine of N35.5m imposed on First Nation Airways, noting that the sanction was in compliance with the provision of the Civil Aviation Regulations, which is given after initial warnings.

The Director General said it was not done as punitive measure per se, but to religiously enforce compliance with the standard and recommended practices laid down by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

In defending the action of the regulatory authority, the Director General dismissed those in the industry who said that the sanction was too harsh, saying that there were prior warnings in the past.

Muhtar stated this during the inaugural flight of Med-View Airline pilgrims from Kaduna International Airport and that of Ethiopian airline to Kaduna from Addis Ababa, Usman also debunked insinuation that the civil aviation authority is being too harsh on the domestic carriers.

He commended the efforts of Medview Airlines and said that the hajj operations took off successfully last Sunday and from all indications, the whole exercise would be smooth and successful.

On the allegation that NCAA does not support airlines, The DG dismissed the insinuation, saying the regulatory authority has been trying as much as possible to assist the local carriers, especially in the allocation of international frequencies in line with the provision of Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA).

“In line with the provision of our regulations, they were sanctioned. They appealed and in line also with the provision of the regulations, we set up an appeal panel made of reputable industry lawyers and some airline representatives with NCAA being only as observers for fairness.

“The Appeal panel did the needful and confirmed what the civil aviation authority said and as I said and I will repeat again, the aim of the sanction is not punitive, it is about correction.”

Usman stressed that it would be unfair to accuse the NCAA of stifling the operations of the domestic carriers even as he urged airline operators to feel free to complain to the authority if they have difficulties flying into other countries which have airlines operating into Nigeria.

He added, “It would be unfair to say that the government has not been helping the local carriers. We operate not in isolation but in line with the bilateral air services agreement (BASA) between countries and in some cases multi-lateral services agreement between various countries.

“Now in the bilateral or multilateral, airlines are designated to operate routes that are assigned to be fair and also to improve on competition and also better services and better pricing. Now Nigerian airlines who have qualified have been designated and it is up to them to operate. We try as much as possible to help them to be able to operate.”

He advised Nigerian airlines to improve their corporate governance to enable them to sustain and remain in the business for a long haul.

The DG speaks further: “We can only come to the aids of airline operators if there are a complaint and all the complaints that we have, the few that we receive, we are attending to them. Sometimes the operators go directly.

“When they have a problem instead of referring it to us for us to wade in, they try to take it up themselves and it is only when they have the real difficulty that they go out and talk. The main thing is that before they even commence operations, they should let us know and anytime they have a problem, they should complain to us. What kind of problems you have? Then we will wade in and ensure that…because the essence of the bilateral agreement is to facilitate air travels between two countries. We go out of the way to ensure that the right things are done in line with the provision of BASA. So anytime any of our operators feel that he is not being treated fairly, he should come to us”. – Safeflight