The government said the resulting impact will be felt in increased flight regularity, the expansion of serviced routes, and competitive ticket pricing, ultimately benefiting the Nigerian public
The Aviation Working Group (AWG) has announced that Nigeria's score on the Cape Town Convention (CTC) Compliance Index has increased to 75.5 per cent from 70.5 per cent, placing the country in the 'high category'.
The development also signals Nigeria's removal from the watchlist of non-compliant nations.
According to a statement issued Thursday by Tunde Moshood, a special adviser to Aviation Minister, Festus Keyamo, the group communicated the development to the minister via email on Wednesday.
Nigeria's global aviation compliance score has seen a significant improvement following the signing of the administrative rules governing aircraft repossession by creditors and lessors, known as the Irrevocable De-registration and Export Request Authorization (IDERA).
"The Aviation Working Group (AWG) announced yesterday that Nigeria's score on the Cape Town Convention (CTC) Compliance Index has been increased from 70.5% to 75.5%, placing the country in the 'high category'," the statement said.
It said the development marks Nigeria's official removal from the AWG's watchlist of non-compliant countries.
The AWG is a not-for-profit legal entity composed of major aviation manufacturers, leasing companies, and financial institutions that contribute to the development of policies, laws, and regulations that facilitate advanced international aviation financing and leasing.
The statutory mandates of AWG are to contribute to the development and acceptance of policies, laws, regulations and rules that facilitate advanced international aviation financing and leasing and to address inefficiencies in aviation financing or leasing or that constrain these transactions.
The high rating of the country's aviation industry and the subsequent removal from the watch list of non-compliant countries came about a month after the government signed the CTC agreement.
Background
In April, Mr Keyamo announced that the federal government was working on a practice direction that would enable domestic airline operators to hire aircraft on dry lease.
At the time, the minister explained that some local operators had, in the past, breached the CTC which regulates aircraft leasing across the world, forcing the AWG, co-chaired by Airbus and Boeing, to blacklist Nigeria until it implements a law that would prevent such occurrences.
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"Why we cannot compete with big international airlines is because we don't have access to aircraft on the same terms as they have," the minister said at the time.
On 12 September, the federal government officially endorsed the CTC practice direction to improve the chances of domestic airline operators accessing aircraft on dry leases. A dry lease involves hiring an aircraft without a flight crew. In such cases, the hiring entity (the lessee) takes on operational responsibilities, such as crew members and maintenance.
Shortly after, Jeffrey Wool, AWG's secretary-general, informed Mr Keyamo that the move had boosted the country's aviation rating.
"Thank you (and your colleagues) for the time, effort, and skill over the past months on the Practice Direction issued late last week," Wool said." Based on that important legal development, AWG has swiftly and materially increased the Nigeria CTC compliance index score from 49 to 70.5."
On Thursday, the statement noted that the milestone is expected to open new avenues for aircraft financing and dry-leasing for Nigerian airline operators, ensuring greater access to aircraft leasing markets globally.
"The resulting impact will be felt in increased flight regularity, the expansion of serviced routes, and competitive ticket pricing, ultimately benefiting the Nigerian public," Mr Keyamo said.
