Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority ( NCAA) yesterday cautioned domestic airlines to desist from violating restart guidelines rolled out by the regulator insisting that they have not been authorized to carry out test flights.
Its Director-General, Capt Musa Nuhu, said shakedown flights already carried by two carriers, Air Peace and DANA Air, were a gross violation of the protocols rolled out for the restart of operations.
The NCAA boss disclosed this during a webinar.
The NCAA DG said the date for the reopening of the airspace to commercial flights would be announced next week while simulation flights are expected to be conducted on Saturday
Nuhu said: “Airlines must make our work easier. No airline was authorised to do test run flight. It is creating problems for us”.
Also speaking, Chairman, NCAA COVID-19 Committee, Godwin Balang, told attendees that the preparedness levels of Owerri and Port Harcourt airports were hampering the industry restart plan.
Balang said the Lagos, Abuja and Kano airports scored over 85 per cent, while Port Harcourt and Owerri scored less than 40 per cent in the latest report.