CAT 1 status: US commences mock exercise on Nigeria

By Daniel Eteghe
Officials of the United States Federal Aviation Administration , FAA), are already in the country to conduct a mock exercise on Nigeria’s aviation prior to the last lap of Category One status.

Director General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, Dr. Harold Demuren, who disclosed this in Lagos, told newsmen that Nigeria has passed all the necessary eight critical stages of the exercise that would eventually lead to the attainment of Category .

According to him, the NCAA is determined to get the status, which would rank Nigeria as a leading aviation nation of the world.
He said the last lap which will be done in a few weeks was the last assessment of the industry, adding that mock audit involved the technical review that will be done by the officials on the industry.

Demuren said Category 1 allows foreign registered aircraft to fly direct to continental United States, using aircraft registered in their own country.

Three airlines, Virgin Nigeria (Air Nigeria), Bellview and ARik were designated on the lucrative US routes, but only  Arik had since been chosen by the US FAA for the audit as it has been found to have met the requirements in the Nigerian Civil Aviation regulations and FAA.

Debunking claims that the absence of a national carrier may debar Nigerian from attaining this status, Demuren said such was not a requirement for Category 1
“One of the requirements for Category 1 is the certification of at least one Nigerian airline in accordance with the new safety regulations.
“Nigeria has completed this process of re-certifying and issuing an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) to Arik Air, a Nigerian registered airline, which is already designated and started flying to the continental US using foreign registered aircraft.

“The re-certification of other airlines is in progress.  In addition, the authority wishes to inform Nigerians that Nigeria has closed all the eight critical elements of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) safety oversight which is what FAA Category 1 is all about,” Demuren said.