Three private jets whose owners illegally used them for commercial operations in contravention of their approved operating licenses have been sanctioned by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo, had in 2023 expressed displeasure over the rising incidents of private jets being used for commercial purposes and issued a marching orders for the cessation of such acts.
Just last March, the NCAA also issued a stern warning to holders of the Permit for Non Commercial Flights (PNCF), against engaging in the carriage of passenger cargo or mail for hire and reward.
The regulatory body disclosed on Tuesday that as part of efforts to ensure compliance it deployed its officials to monitor activities of private jets at terminals across the airports in Nigeria.
According to an electronic statement announcing the suspension of the private jets without disclosing their owners, NCAA said “As a consequence of this heightened surveillance, no fewer than three private operators have been found to be involved in violation of the annexure provision of their PNCF and Part 9114 of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations 2023.”
The document signed by the Acting Director General, Captain Chris Ona Najomo said “In line with our zero tolerance for violation of regulations, the Authority has suspended the PNCF of these operators. To further sanitize the general aviation sector, I have directed that a re-evaluation of all holders of PNCF be carried out on or before the 19th of April 2024 to ascertain compliance with regulatory requirements.”
“All PNCF holders will be required to submit relevant documents to the authority within the next 72 hours.”
He affirmed that “This riot act is also directed at existing Air Operator Certificate (AOC) holders, who utilize aircraft listed on their PNCF for commercial charter operations.
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.”
“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.
Finally, NCAA encourages the legitimate players in the aviation industry to report the activity of such unscrupulous elements to the authorities promptly for necessary action.” The Acting DG explained further.