As a result of the Third Country Operator (TCO) certificate that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has secured for the impacted airlines, Nigerian airlines are now free to fly to the UK and Europe. The TCO makes it simple for airlines that are allocated to serve the UK or certain EU countries to apply to operate.
As a result, Nigeria's largest airline, Air Peace, is free to operate in the UK.
You may remember that the Chairman of Air Peace, Mr. Allen Onyema, recently expressed his concerns over Air Peace's inability to fly to London.
It was discovered that all of the obstacles in the way of the Air Peace had been removed thanks to the NCAA's intervention.
While United Nigeria Airlines (UNA) had also been chosen to travel to the UK, Omni Blu Airline was also granted the TCO by the NCAA in addition to Air Peace.
Capt. Musa Nuhu, director-general of civil aviation, who confirmed this in a conversation with our correspondent outside of the 7th Aviation African Summit and Exhibition, which was held in Nigeria and attended by 1,500 people from 75 different countries, nevertheless suggested that airlines always bring the CAA along when negotiating with another nation.
He claimed that it was common practise for many privately held airlines to negotiate flights with another nation without including the CAA, only to turn to the agency when problems arose.
"If the airlines are authorised to fly to a specific country, they go there to go and negotiate without alerting the NCAA," he claimed. So how am I supposed to assist you when I have no idea what you are doing?
"We were able to address the problems for the few airlines who came to us and asked for assistance within a few of hours; sometimes all it takes is a phone call from the DG to his counterpart DG.
We struggled with various European nations, and as a result, we obtained a TCO (Third Country Operator) certificate that allows our airlines to run in these nations.
"If you are assigned to fly into another nation, you should typically visit the NCAA. We would present you to that nation in writing, and we would then follow up with you and help. Ibom Air arrived, they were having problems, and I was able to fix that problem with only one phone call in less than five minutes.
"The operators must learn how to use the tools at their disposal. A issue arises if you approach negotiations with a government organisation as a private company. When you travel through NCAA, we speak with them, we send our experts to accompany you as you negotiate with them, and we even ask the Nigerian Embassy or High Commission in that nation to travel and speak on that airline's behalf. However, when operators travel independently and encounter difficulties, they begin to cry wolf. They must involve us and take the initiative.
A BASA (bilateral air service agreement), which establishes the terms and conditions of flights between those two countries, is required for any flight between two countries, according to Nuhu, who went on to further clarify the TCO. After that, each nation will choose an operator from that BASA. The UK has designated BA and Virgin Atlantic to travel to Nigeria, much as Nigeria has designated select carriers, notably Air Peace, to fly to the UK. This comes in first.
"The regulatory requirements of the nations you are travelling into are the next step. You need a TCO if you're travelling to the UK because, until recently, Europe and the UK were one. So, airlines in Europe have their TCO as well as the TCO for the UK.
"We have what we call the Foreign Carriers' Operational Permit (FCOP), which is the equivalent of the TCO, if you are flying to Nigeria. Hence, before you are "authorised to travel into their countries," you must comply with these regulatory standards.
-By Abebi Adaego|thetransporteronline24|Nigeria
