NCAA suspends Azman Air flight operations, conducts audit

Mike Ochonma

Business Editor

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has suspended Azman Air operations. The suspension was announced in a statement signed on Tuesday by Musa Nuhu, director-general of NCAA and titled, “NCAA Suspends Azman Air Operations With Immediate Effect.”

NCAA’s director-general in the statement added that the suspension of the Air Operations is to enable the Authority to conduct an audit of the airline.

The statement reads; “Following series of incidents involving Azman Air Boeing 737 Aircraft, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has pursuant to Section 35 (2) of the Civil Aviation Act, 2006 and Part 1.3.3.3 (A) of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs) 2015, suspended the operations of all the Boeing 737 Aircraft in the Fleet of Azman Air Services Limited, with effect from March 15, 2021.

NCAA says the suspension is to enable the Authority to conduct an audit of the airline to determine the root cause(s) of the incidents, and recommend corrective actions to forestall re-occurrence, the statement read in part.

According to the statement, “The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority will continue to ensure compliance to its regulations in the interest of safety and will view any violation(s) seriously.”

The NCAA said it regrets the inconvenience the action may cause to the public, “particularly to Azman air passengers but the need to ensure the safety of Air Transport and protect the public interest, cannot be compromised.

Azman Air in a tweet also confirmed the suspension of all its flight operations. “Due to our strong stance on safety, @AzmanAir will be undergoing an audit of its safety processes as supervised by the regulators. In this regard, all our operations is hereby suspended. We are on our toes to restore operations within a short period. Kindly accept our apologies,” the airline announced on its official handle @AzmanAir.