Breaking: Dubai Travel: Emirates Airline Extends Suspension Of Nigerian Flights To UAE
The Dubai-based airline had earlier announced that it would suspend flights from Nigeria to Dubai till August 28.
Emirates Airlines has extended the suspension of Nigerian flights to Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) till September 5, 2021.
Passengers who have been to or connected through Nigeria in the last 14 days will not be permitted on any Emirates flights bound for Dubai, the airline said, adding that affected flight bookings have been cancelled, Khaleej Times reports.
“If your flight has been cancelled or impacted by route suspensions due to Covid19 restrictions, you don’t need to call us immediately for rebooking. You can simply hold on to your Emirates ticket and when flights resume, get in touch with your booking office or us to make new travel plans,” the airline said.
Travellers have been requested to continue monitoring the airline’s official website for updates and flight availability.
The Dubai-based airline had earlier announced that it would suspend flights from Nigeria to Dubai till August 28.
NCAA Reveals What Happens to Airlines that Fail to Renew Their AOCs Before Expiration
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has disclosed that airlines that fail to renew their Air Operator Certificates (AOCs) before they expire may be grounded.
This was confirmed in the NCAA’s regulations, which requires airline operators to renew their AOC’s at least 30 days before expiration. Airline operators are required by the NCAA to renew their AOCs every two years.
AOC is one of the most important certifications an airline obtains from the NCAA, as it approves operators’ operations.
What NCAA is saying about AOCs
The Director-General of NCAA, Capt. Musa Nuhu, said, “There are five stages involved in AOCs’ renewal, all of which are very crucial and are done with cautiousness to ensure the stages are duly passed.
‘The initial stage, the operator or intended operator will write the authority and signify its intention for an exploratory meeting to discuss with them.‘
“After that, we start other phases through the final phase, in which the operator would conduct some flights and inspection of their base facilities to ensure that they are capable and approve what they have claimed in their inspection before they are approved for the AOC.
“The different five stages have different processes to ensure and confirm legitimacy as well financial and technical capabilities.
“If you wait till your AOC expires, that means you are not going to fly. If your AOC expires, you are grounded. The regulation says at least 30 days before expiration.
“But because of the difficulties they have meeting with certifications, the regulation says 30 days, but nothing stops you from meeting the regulation 60 or 90 days so that if there is any issue or challenge you have, you can resolve it before your AOC actually expires.”
Aircraft Recycling Set to Boom as Covid-19 Pandemic Forces Airlines to Retire Jets
As the Covid-19 pandemic keeps several airline fleets grounded, carriers are accelerating the retirement of aircraft, leading to a surge in the dismantling and trading of plane parts.
The aviation industry is pushing to become more sustainable amid growing pressure from climate change activists.
The number of jets in storage worldwide was 6,329 in August 2021, up from 2,167 before the Covid-19 pandemic, as the global crisis and ensuing collapse in air travel demand continues to keep about a quarter of the world’s commercial passenger aircraft idle, according to aviation analytics company Cirium.
Around 676 aircraft were retired in 2020, slightly below 2019 levels of 680 jets, but above the 20-year average of about 625 retirements a year, according to Richard Brown, managing director of London aerospace consultancy Naveo.
Aircraft retirements, as a percentage of the active fleet, typically average 2.5 per cent. The retirement rate in 2020 was 2.6 per cent, Mr Brown said. As of this mid-August, about 276 aircraft had been officially retired.
Jets that are no longer in service are either maintained in an airworthy condition, put into long-term storage complexes or disassembled for parts that are taken out to be used in other planes or recycled. Read more
Nigeria: NCAA Probes Poor Navigational Facilities At Port Harcourt Airport
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has said that it will investigate recent claims by some aviation stakeholders that the Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA) is not safe for flight operations.
Director General of the NCAA, Capt. Musa Nuhu, said this in response to the alarm raised by some stakeholders, including pilots calling for the shutdown of the airport over deplorable facilities.
Daily Trust reports that the stakeholders, who participated in the just concluded two-day engagement on review of eight final reports, organized by the Accident Investigation Bureau Nigeria (AIB-N) deplored the state of Instrument Landing System (ILS) and other safety facilities at the airport, saying the airport should have been shut down long ago.
Our correspondent reports that Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, Rivers State is one of the four major airports in the country with a new terminal commissioned by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Capt. Nuhu said, “I am really surprised by this report on Port Harcourt airport, I have my director on aerodrome and airspace standards, I have not received any report on such issues in Port Harcourt airport and neither have I received such issues from my regional manager in Port Harcourt.
“However, we will do our investigation, we don’t hide things, we are open, there is no place or no organization or no country that does not have challenges, what is important is, when you discover the challenges or brought to your notice, you at resolving it and I think that is the most important thing.
“But for now, I am not aware of anything unsafe in Port Harcourt but since you brought it up we will still look into it, I will demand a report from my station manager in PH, we will go to do an inspection, if there is anything, they will let us know and I will work together with the management of FAAN on resolving it”.
Passenger Facilitation: Airport Automation To Resume In Two Weeks – MD FAAN
LAGOS – The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has assured that the five international airports would return to automation process in the next two weeks.
The authority also said that some international airlines have migrated to the new Common User Passengers Processing System (CUPPS) provided by RESA Airport Data System.
Speaking with aviation journalists on Sunday at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, during the inspection of the facility, Capt. Rabiu Yadudu, the managing director of FAAN, said that the equipment were already delivered to the agency by RESA and assured that the new facilities are improvement on the former.
Yadudu, who was in company of Capt. Musa Nuhu, the Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), regretted the action of the Societe International Telecommunication Aeronautiques (SITA), which it severed relationship with earlier in the year.
Yadudu stated that the abrupt disruption of the former Common Use of Terminal Equipment (CUTE) by SITA at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, was unfortunate and unnecessary.
According to him, foreign airlines like KLM/Air France, British Airways, Delta Air Lines and others, have already hooked up to the new system and assured the contract entered with RESA was an improvement to the one provided by SITA.
He said: “We went and saw and yesterday we saw that some airlines were already onboard like KLM/Air France. British Airways, Delta already have their cables, the Director-General even asked specifically of Delta and he was shown. They are not fully onboard, but they have gone far to be fully integrated on the RESA platform. Read more