Joint Western & Central African (WACAF) Office and - ICAO

STATE PROFILE — NIGERIA
3-D total body imaging scanners recently installed at the Murtala Muhammed International
Airport in Lagos.
One of Nigeria’s more pressing aviation challenges has been
achieving the coveted Category One status from the U.S.
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The FAA’s Category
One designation, part of their International Aviation Safety
Assessment (IASA), permits State carriers to operate direct
flights to the United States. The process normally takes five
years but NCAA diligently worked to fast-track its application
to achieve the required status in a shorter time. After almost
four years, on 24 August 2010, Nigeria attained FAA IASA
Category One status. Demuren congratulated all and said
he was proud that Nigeria did not cut corners and that the
main challenge going forward is to maintain the Category
One status. He could foresee many positive benefits as a
result of the overall process.
“This is not just about Category One status, but the
achievement of a robust system that will serve Nigeria
and the West African sub-region for a long time to come,”
Demeuren remarked.
Meanwhile, one of Nigeria’s designated carriers, Arik Air,
has already begun direct flights between Lagos and New York
under an arrangement whereby the carrier wet-leases its
aircraft from Portugal, a Category One rated country. In the
meantime, the NCAA continues to coordinate with other
parastatals, notably the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria
(FAAN) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency
(NAMA), to ensure a cohesive approach to all aspects
of aviation safety.
16 REGIONAL REpORt - AFRICA - 2011
Nigeria’s Airports: Evolving to
meet 21 st Century Regional
and International Challenges
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria
(FAAN), a member of the Airports Council
International (ACI), manages all of the
commercial airports in Nigeria, providing
the necessary maintenance and services
for air transport in the country. The
FAAN’s management recently ordered
an infrastructure audit on all airport
facilities across the country and, based
on its results, was able to prioritize the
considerable issues requiring attention.
The audit revealed several issues
requiring urgent attention, namely:
airfield lighting systems; firefighting
equipment; and the state and strength
of State runways.
“We have now completely rehabilitated
the Port -Harcourt International Airport
runway, including the airfield lighting,”
stressed George Uriesi, Managing Director of the FAAN.
“This was a massive challenge, but we are now very pleased
to report that the re-opening of the airport has contributed
very positively to the benefit of the Niger Delta region.”
Despite the urgency of this work, FAAN has also begun
addressing an issue of even greater importance: the cus-
tomer service skills of its employees. Some 47 percent of
the FAAN workforce was sent on various training programmes,
either locally or abroad in the last 15 months.
Despite the current administration’s commitment to upgrading
State airports, there are limits to the funds available. With
20 airports in the country and a 12 month time frame to
rebuild a runway, Nigeria would only finish its last runway
Nigeria’s former Minister of Aviation, Fidelia Njeze, waves the FAA IASA
Category 1 certificate as U.S. Ambassador Robin Sanders and NCAA
Director General Harold Demuren applaud this important accomplishment.