Nigerian CAA Pledges To Improve AOC Approval Process

Nigeria’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) last week promised to organize a workshop to help business aircraft operators complete the process to obtain an air operator’s certificate (AOC). At the Nigerian Business Aviation Conference in Lagos on March 17-18, local officials acknowledged that they have not communicated well with the private sector, resulting in a confusing and slow approval process. Captain Dele Sasegbon, a director with Nigeria’s Directorate of General Aviation, addressed the conference, along with Ben Adeyileka, the CAA’s Director of Airworthiness Standards.

Despite having a population of 174 million, Nigeria currently has just 39 airports. The lack of aviation infrastructure is particularly critical given that the country’s economy is also constrained by an inadequate road network. The conference, hosted by EAN Aviation, heard that business aviation has already created around 5,000 jobs in Nigeria, contributing approximately $685 million to the economy. But the lack of aircraft maintenance capability in Nigeria has meant that local operators have had to spend around $305 million to maintain their aircraft overseas, rather than supporting local companies.