A day after Aero Contractors announced the suspension of operations
and placed staff on indefinitely leave, another national airline, First
Nation, has closed business.
The National Civil Aviation Authority announced on Thursday that
First Nation had been ordered to shut down for mandatory maintenance.
The director-general, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA),
Muhtar Usman, said in a statement that the indefinite suspension of
operations by the airline followed its engine replacement programme
involving one of the aircraft in its fleet.
Mr. Usman said with another aircraft due for mandatory maintenance in
line with NCAA’s regulations, the airline cannot continue its
operations.
“In these circumstances, these airlines clearly cannot continue to
undertake schedule operations, hence the inevitable recourse to
self-regulatory suspension,” the NCAA boss said.
“It is against the Nigerian civil aviation regulations for airline
operators to carry out scheduled commercial operations with only one
aircraft.”
Mr. Usman, who said this was the same premise Aero Contractors was
ordered to suspend its operations, said NCAA would not compromise safety
and security of airlines operations in the airspace.
He said every facet of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations and
Standard and Recommended Practices (SARPs) must be adhered to with due
diligence.
He explained that everything had been put in place to continue ensuring compliance.
The First Nation could not be reached for comment for this story.
The decision came as the suspension of Aero Contractors’ took effect Thursday.
The airline had claimed it suspended flights due to the difficult
business environment in the country.
At least 1,400 staff of Aero have
been placed on an indefinite leave.
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PLEASE BE POLITE