NCAA in Final Stage of Certifying Our New Aircraft – Ibom Air

Nigeria’s regional airline, Ibom Air, today, said the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, is in the final stage of certifying its newly acquired Airbus A220-300.

Speaking in Lagos during a visit to the League of Airports and Aviation Correspondents, LAAC, General Manager Marketing of the airline, Mrs Aniekan Essienette, said the certification process will streamline future certifications for similar aircraft.

She added that the aircraft will enter schedule as soon as the certification procedures are completed.

This is coming after the airline announced that it adjusted its schedule following the discontinuation of its wet leased aircraft a few weeks ago.

Her words: “Once that happens, we will enter into service. This means that subsequent aircraft, if it is the same type, will not take as long to enter into service. It’s still part of the plan, the only thing is that the entry into service time was longer than we expected and the wet lease aircraft had to go so we had to make adjustments to our schedule.

“For the one on ground, this is the first time having that kind of aircraft. We had to certify it and get the NCAA to Canada to certify it. It’s not as easy to acquire as it is to enter into service. And because of the global procurement backlog, the timeline had to shift a bit. We received the first one last year, it’s supposed to be two. We ended up having one. The second one will come anytime from now.

On the operating environment, she said: “Sometimes we have to handle glitches like bolts. We don’t manufacture bolts and we have to import bolts. We hope our operating environment becomes more favourable such that we can acquire parts and sometimes we get the parts and have to go through customs. These are things you don’t see and it is a struggle but we are coping.”

February 23, 2024