The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has accused Ethiopian Airline of corporate irresponsibility and brazenly disobeying an order of a competent Nigerian court – the Federal High Court of Nigeria – by allowing itself to be used as part of a grand deception of Nigerians.
This is as the indigenous group commended the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority ( NCAA), on their role in saving the country from ignominy by resisting the pressure from Minister Hadi Sirika to grant an Air Operators Certificate (AOC) to Nigeria Air without going through the due process which would have led to being blacklisted and its airlines unable to lease aircraft.
The AON in a statement signed by its spokesman, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, OFR stated that Ethiopian Airlines is well.aware that the aircraft it landed in Abuja on Friday, May 26, 2023, does not belong to Nigeria Air and is not registered in Nigeria as required by Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations.
He said, “The question is: Would Ethiopia allow a Nigerian airline to brazenly flout the orders of an Ethiopian court or violate the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Regulations as it did in Abuja on Friday, May 26? This goes to show that Ethiopia Airline Operators have no iota of respect for our country, our laws, and regulatory agencies. It is our hope that Ethiopia Airlines does not get away with this disrespectful action.
On the action of the regulatory agency, the NCAA, by not bowing to pressure to give out a certification without process followed, the AON said aviation is an essential sector which is critical to economic development of Nigeria or any country and if tampered with, it will have a negative expanded multiplier effect on all aspects of the economy and life of Nigeria.
The statement read further, “The Air Operators Certificate (AOC) is also a safety certificate by which the NCAA certifies that the holder has demonstrated that it is fit to conduct safe flight operations. To achieve this, a prospective airline is put through a rigorous five-phase certification process before it is granted. Implication of granting an AOC to Nigeria Air without it successfully going through the process is considered by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) as serious infraction, which is also punishable.
” It is capable of causing Nigeria to be blacklisted by aviation safety agencies like the US FAA and the EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency).
Further implications include that airlines of those countries will not come into Nigeria, and Nigerian airlines will not be allowed to operate into those countries. It also means that Nigeria will definitely fail the upcoming ICAO audit and, by way of further penalty, lose its FAA CAT-1 Certification.
“Nigerian airlines will also not be able to lease aircraft to boost their operations because no lessor will trust the safety certification process of the NCAA.
On the establishment of the Nigeria Air and its grouse for taking legal action, the AON said it is a patriotic action to save the Nigerian Government, people and economy from exploitation and to also protect the Nigerian aviation sector and our investments otherwise, it cares less about the ownership of Nigeria Air if the intentions are genuine and for the common good with strict compliance with the due process
It stated, “On further investigation, we discovered some mind-burgling dangerous agenda to kill the entire indigenous operators and handover monopoly to Ethiopian Airline in a dubious and fraudulent way against the economic interest of Nigeria, hence our court action supported by strong material evidence.
It continued,”After all, Ethiopian Airline is already operating multiple landing rights in Nigeria, British Airways is owned by IAG, a company registered in Spain but owned by Qatar as the major shareholder. The Canadian government owns less than 7% of Air Canada’s National carrier. Takatso, a Pan-African consortium, recently took over South Africa Airways, e.t.c. All we are saying is, let the right thing be done, the right way, for strictly the interest of nigeria and her aviatioN industry.
