NCAA lifts suspension on United Nigeria’s wet lease aircraft operations

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) says it has lifted the suspension on operations of the United Nigeria Airlines’ wet lease aircraft.

The NCAA made the announcement in a letter signed by Ibrahim Dambazau, its director of operations, licensing and training on Friday.

On Sunday, a United Nigeria Airlines aircraft which departed Muritala Muhammad International Airport, Lagos, en route to Abuja, was said to have diverted to Asaba, Delta state.

In its defence a few hours after the incident, United Nigeria said the flight was diverted to Asaba as a result of bad destination weather.

On Tuesday the NCAA began an investigation into the airline’s two wet lease aircraft resulting in a suspension of operations. 

Providing the result of the investigation in the letter referenced NCAA/DOLT/UNA/Vol.02523, NCAA cited that the incident was due to a lack of “adequate liaison” between the lessor’s OCC (operation control centre) and lessee’s OCC which has also omitted appropriate flight briefing from the point of departure.

The authority also said there was non-adherence to the approved filed air traffic control (ATC) flight plan.

The authority also gave recommendations to the airline, adding that both cockpit and cabin crew should hold appropriate briefings before flight and procedures should be strictly adhered to by both the lessor and the lessee’s OCC.

In response to the suspension lifted, the United Nigeria Airline in a statement, apologised to passengers for the experience and expressed their gratitude for their understanding during the period. 

“We are pleased to announce the lifting of the suspension placed on our ‘Part G’ operations specifications which affected one of our aircraft,” the airline said. 

“We want to express our deepest gratitude to you for keeping faith with us and for your understanding during this period.

“Safety is at the core of United Nigeria Airlines’ values and we take our commitment to passenger safety very seriously. 

“We are aware that every time our schedule is disrupted, it is usually a very painful experience for you and for us as well because we know and understand that it affects travel plans and diminishes your trust in the reliability of our operations.

“We are deeply sorry for the inconvenience this has caused you and would like to reassure you that our dedicated team is working around the clock to resolve the backlog of flight schedules because we understand the importance of your travel plans and the trust you place in us.”

The airline also assured customers of prompt customer support to enable them to have a seamless travel experience.