Air Operator’s Certificate: Domestic Airline Operators Hit NCAA, Nigeria Air With Court Restraining Order

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has been restrained by a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos from issuing the proposed national carrier, Nigeria Air, an Air Operator’s Certificate.

Nigeria Air has been waiting on the Air Operator’s Certificate to commence operation, however, the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) and five other plaintiffs blocked the issuance by filing a court against NCAA. 

Prior to the lawsuit, the Airline Operators of Nigeria had filed a case against Nigeria Air, Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika and the Ministry of Aviation to stop the partnership between Ethiopian Airlines and Nigeria Air.

Ethiopian Airlines submitted a proposal to be the technical partner of Nigeria Air. With the foreign airline being the only international airline willing to partner with the national carrier, the minister approved the partnership. 

However, domestic airline operators are against the partnership, stating it will give Ethiopian Airlines an undue advantage and also enable the firm to profit from domestic flight operations – a move they said could push other local airline operators out of business and increase Ethiopian Airlines’ market share.

This led to a court battle between AON and the Ministry of Aviation to stop the partnership. The lawsuit had delayed the commencement of Nigeria Air flights in late 2022, with the aviation minister hoping operation will begin before President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration ends in May 2023. 

While the case is still pending in court, the AON filed another suit against NCAA to stop the aviation authority from handing the Air Operator’s Certificate to Nigeria Air. 

The counsel to the domestic airline operators, Abubakar Nuhu Ahmed, a legal practitioner at Nureini Jimoh Chambers, told NCAA to desist from dealing with Sirika, the Ministry of Aviation and/ or their agents, privies or representatives, pertaining to the Air Operator Certificate. 

This was contained in a restraining order letter dated 19 April 2023. The plaintiff’s lawyer further stated that the Director General of NCAA, Captain Nuhu Musa, should desist from an action that will ridicule the integrity of NCAA. 

“You are therefore notified to desist from dealing with the Minister/the Ministry of Aviation and/ or their agents, privies or representatives, pertaining the Air Operator Certificate, subject matter of the suit, to avoid consequences of disobedience of court orders”. 

“As a law abiding regulatory agency, you are under the watchful eyes of the world and it is in your interest to desist from any further action on AOC process that will ridicule the integrity of the Agency before the local media as well as the global aviation community,” the letter reads.