FAA Delists Nigeria from Category One Aviation Status

The United States apex aviation regulatory body, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), has delisted Nigeria from the category one aviation status.

This recent development means that no designated airline from Nigeria can operate to the United States at the moment, only through a third country.

The delisting of Nigeria is as a result of the FAA’s new law which states that nations whose carriers fail to operate to the United States under the ‘Open Skies’ agreement between it and the US. for at least two years will have its entire sector and airlines designated to America undergo recertification.

A report by Aviation Metric States that the recertification involves a whole process that includes scrutiny of airport security, airport facilitation, airline audit and the type of aircraft to be used for the operations to the US by the designated airline or airlines.

Pending the recertification, Nigerian carriers will technically be ineligible to operate to the US. 

The African countries on the FAA Category One list are: Egypt, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Morocco, and South Africa. 

Source: aviationmetrics.com