INTRODUCTION

On Tuesday, April 2, 2024, The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (the “Authority” or “NCAA”) revised and published the second version of the Air Operators Certificate (“AOC”) Operations Specification (“OPS”). The document which was transposed into a 16-page form, contrary to it earlier position, wherein it was 70-paged, in August 2023, has been further revised to ensure that the Authority continues to be abreast of changes and revisions made by the AOC holders.

The Authority during its announcement of the update, advised holders of the AOC to contact the Directorate of Operations, Licensing, and Training Standards to download, complete, and submit the updated document to the NCAA with immediate effect.

NEED-TO-KNOW INFORMATION

The AOC OPS is a comprehensive document with which a holder of an AOC informs the NCAA of all operations and specification details. The extent to which this document reveals is the extent of permissibility of the AOC.

The NCAA updated the AOC OPS, by introducing a second version to the initial version. This document now contains a Revision Control Page. This page is used by the AOCs to inform the NCAA of every revision made to the OPS, the section, page affected, and the last revision date. It is important that for every revision, the affected pages, and revision control page must be updated and replaced.

The AOC OPS is annexed with sixteen (16) appendices ranging from, the Approved Post Holders, Approved Manuals, Approved Wet-Leased Aircraft, List of Approved Simulator Training Facilities, Aerodomes Approved Scheduled Operations, Special Aerodomes Approved for Operations, Maintenance Authorization, Parts Pool Agreement Authorization, Short Term Escalation Authorization, Special Flight Permit with Continuous Authorisation to conduct Ferry Flights, Minimum Equipment List Authorization, Maintenance Contractual Arrangement Authorisation for Specific Maintenance; Reliability Programme Contractual Arrangement Authorisation, Reliability Programme, Parts Borrowing Authorisation, and Authorised Aircraft Listing.

It is worthy of note that the OPS is applicable to all existing AOC holders, and it is important that effort is made to fill the new form and submit to the Authority.

CONCLUSION

The introduction of the updated OPS gives the NCAA an edge to be abreast of all the activities of AOC holders and guarantees prompt notification in the event of revisions. Also, this helps in laying to rest all instances of inconsistencies and ambiguity which might occur by reason of the NCAA not being in the know of revisions to the OPS.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.