Director-General, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr Harold Demuren, has said Nigeria is likely to become Category One Status country this year.
This will qualify its designated airlines to fly non-stop to US cities, as the United States' Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) four-man team, led by Larry Williams, arrived Lagos yesterday, to start another phase of technical assessment of NCAA.
In a telephone interview, Demuren confirmed arrival of the FAA team, and said this time, the experts came for comrehensive audit of the regulatory body and airlines designated on the US routes.
He said upon their arrival, members of the audit team started examining specific areas of assessment; where the last team stopped work and expressed optimism that with what was on ground, by the end of this year, Nigeria would attain Category One Status, as a nation that maintains international aviation safety standards.
"They are already here and discussing on how to improve upon specific items discussed earlier, we are hopeful that by the end of this year, we will have it," Demuren said, adding that the specific areas that the team would look at include safety oversight mechanisms, such as list of aircraft operating in Nigeria, pilots and crew members, assessment of operating regulations to meet International Civil Organisation (ICAO) standards, technical guidance materials on safety, to ensure that every aircraft has type-rated inspectors and the general capability of the regulatory body.
Three airlines, Virgin Nigeria, Arik air and Bellview, were last year designated by the Federal Government to travel to the United States of America, but according to US regulations, they could not go to America with their own aircraft, until FAA certify that NCAA meets international safety standards
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=100460