By Stella Enenche, Abuja
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has suspended the licences of three private jet owners for allegedly carrying out commercial flight operations.
The NCAA disclosed this on Tuesday in a statement signed by the Acting Director General, Capt. Chris Najomo.
The authority also directed all holders of Permit For Non-Commercial Flights (PNCF) to resubmit their documents for revalidation within 72 hours.
The statement said ,“the Authority had also deployed its officials to monitor the activities of private jets at terminals across the airports in Nigeria. As a consequence of this heightened surveillance, no fewer than three private operators are involved in violation of the annexure provision of their PNCF and Part 9114 of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations.
“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” he said.
“This riot act is also directed at existing Air Operator Certificate (AOC) holders, who utilize aircraft listed on their PNCF for commercial charter operations” Captain Najomo further indicated.
“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 in the AOC operations specification” he said.
The NCAA urged the traveling 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.
Najomo explained that “back in 2023, the use of private jets for commercial purposes had gotten the attention of the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, SAN, who issued marching orders for the cessation of such act.
“Subsequently, in March 2024, the NCAA 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”.
NCAA encouraged the legitimate players in the aviation industry to report the activity of such unscrupulous elements to the Authority promptly for necessary action.
