The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has suspended flight operations of Azman Air, citing series of safety incidents involving the airline’s Boeing 737 aircraft.
The Director General of NCAA, Captain Musa Nuhu, said in a statement that the airline’s operations are suspended with immediate effect.
The statement read: ”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.
“The suspension is to enable the Authority conduct an audit of the airline to determine the root cause(s) of the incidents, and recommend corrective actions to forestall re-occurrence.
“The NCAA regrets the inconvenience this 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.
“The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority will continue to ensure compliance to its regulations in the interest of safety and will viewed any violation(s) seriously.”
The airline in a statement explained that “due to our strong stance on safety, Azman Air will be undergoing an audit of its safety processes as supervised by the regulators. In this regards all our operations is hereby suspended. We are on our toes to restore operations within a short period. Kindly accept our apologies”.
The airline had recorded series of serious incidents recently. The latest one resulted in the shutting down of the international wing runway of the Muritala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.