Dr Harold Demuren, the director-general of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has declared at the Ministerial Conference on Aviation Safety in Africa in Abuja that domestic airlines need to meet tougher technical and economic conditions.
He said: “Airlines should be financially healthy to operate… You may be a billionaire… but if you don’t pay your workers your airline will be grounded. We, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), we have our own template for financial errors and we have our own risk factors. If you don’t pay salary of crew which affects safety, you cannot operate.”
He went on to voice his concerns about airlines that purchase fuel on a cash-and-carry basis and those that don’t pay landing fees on time.
“You must be credit worthy; you must pay your lessor; you must have enough money to buy spare parts because you are not going to jankara market. All these, to me, make an airline financially healthy.”
Demuren also stated that following the Dana Air crash that the authority is determined to ensure it airlines pass IOSA and join IATA if they want to operate internationally.