Bad Belly Awake: ”UK Airline Regulator Reports Air Peace Over Safety Violation

Recalls that Air Peace recently commenced operations to Gatwick Airport in London from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, under the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA), which Nigeria signed with the UK and since the commencement of the operations, the price of tickets on the route crashed from over N3million to N1.2m for an economy return ticket.

However, there have been a series of aero politics, including allegations of withholding winter slots for Air Peace and deliberate operational interference by Gatwick Airport aimed at disrupting the carrier’s new Lagos-London route, among others.

But, over the weekend, two mandatory occurrence reports on Air Peace had been reportedly sent to the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority, which the UK CAA, in turn, forwarded to the NCAA.

The UK regulator’s letters of complaint forwarded to NCAA was entitled; ‘United Kingdom SAFA Ramp Inspection Report with reference number: CAA-UK, -2024-0217’ and ‘NATS Management System Safety Report’, respectively.

The NCAA has also written to Air Peace to provide clarification on the issues raised by the UK regulator.

The letter, with reference number: NCAA/DOLTS/APL/Vol.11/03624 was titled, ‘United Kingdom SAFA Ramp Inspection Report’. It was dated May 14, 2024, and signed by the NCAA General Manager of Operations, Capt. O.O. Lawani.

In the letter, the NCAA said the UK CAA had called its attention to the ‘no operational approval’ of Electronic Flight Bag functions affecting the safe operation of the aircraft, while adding that the captain of the flight admitted that an Electronic Flight Bag was being used for navigational purposes.

NCAA further noted that the UK CAA stated in one of its letters that there was “no mounting device for the use of EFB, no charging points or battery for backup.