NCAA Restores Azman Air Operations Licence 48 Hours after Suspension

Chinedu  Eze

Less than 48 hours after it suspended Azman Air’s operations over failure to renew its Air Transport Licence (ATL), the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has restored the airline’s licence, which allows it to resume scheduled services.

NCAA in a brief statement said, “Consequent upon the fulfillment of all outstanding requirements, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has renewed the Air Transport Licence (ATL) of Azman Air, enabling the airline to resume flight operations.”

The regulatory authority had in the midnight of Wednesday, suspended the ATL of the airline, which nullified its Air Operator Certificate (AOC), thus suspending it from scheduled service.

The Director General of NCAA, Captain Musa Nuhu in a Whatsapp interview with aviation journalists explained that the NCAA took the action because the airline failed to provide the required documents for the renewal of its Air Transport Licence.

Nuhu further explained that one of the critical documents for the renewal of the airline’s ATL was the tax certificate, which the airline could not provide because it failed to remit ticket and cargo sales charge amounting to N1.2 billion to NCAA.

In addition to that, the airline also failed to sign Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on how it would remit the fund, which is a five per cent charge that airlines collect on behalf of the regulatory authority.

The NCAA also said that the airline failed to submit security clearance for the renewal of its ATL, which expired in April 2021.

The NCAA boss said that the N1.2 billion debt was the revenue that accrued from the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) and Cargo Sales Charge (CSC) collected from the air travellers by the airline. 

Nuhu told journalists that NCAA management had held a series of meetings with Azman Air leadership on how to pay back the debt, but both parties failed to reach an agreement.

For instance, he explained that the management of the airline had promised to pay back the sum of N10 million monthly as part of the N1.2 billion debt, but said the regulatory body insisted on N50 million monthly from the airline.

But less than 48 hours after the suspension, the NCAA renewed the airline’s licence, which enabled it to resume operations.

Meanwhile, the airline from its response seemed unperturbed, insisting that it would resume operation on Friday and in a statement said, “This is to inform the general public that the information being circulated that Azman Air has been suspended by NCAA due to failure to renew our Air Operator Certificate is entirely false. The Air Operator Certificate issued to Azman Air is still valid till October 2022.

“The recent cancellation of flights is strictly due to operational reasons, which is currently being resolved by the management. Flights will resume accordingly. Our deepest apologies to all the passengers affected,” the airline said.

The airline later on Thursday evening issued another statement from its verified Twitter account that it would resume operations on Friday. When the NCAA Director General was contacted he was not categorical in his response, but said that the suspension report should be upheld.

There was indication that the regulatory authority was under immense pressure to reverse the suspension and the airline seemed unaffected by the suspension of its operation, as it continued to assure its customers that it would resume flight service on Friday.

Immediately after the NCAA issued a statement that it had renewed its ATL, Azman Air stated on Twitter, “Just in: Azman Air operation has been restored and all flights will now operate as scheduled from Friday 16th September. All passengers should kindly take note.”

Nuhu, however, explained that the airline’s initial failure to submit tax clearance and to sign MoU on payment of debt schedule were resolved yesterday and was given approval to resume operations, but many industry observers have wondered how the airline under 48 hours was able to meet the requirement for renewal of licence, which it failed to do for over one year.