The federal government is currently working towards certifying China’s C919 jet for carriers in Nigeria, as the country’s aviation market grows.
The Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Chris Ona Najomo, told Reuters the aviation sector regulator was considering the months-long certification process for the jet to operate on domestic routes at an aviation conference in Montreal, Canada.
Chinese planemaker COMAC is producing the narrow-body C919 to compete with leading Western planemakers Airbus and Boeing, and has held several talks with Nigeria over the aircraft.
However, the report noted that the state-owned COMAC, which hopes to access the wider African market, faces challenges. Its two-plane models lack benchmark certifications from Western regulators, and it is falling behind on delivery targets. The U.S. this year temporarily halted exports of the CFM engines it uses on the C919 due to trade conflicts.
“We’re looking at the certification of the airplane. First of all, that is where we have to start,” Najomo said on the sidelines of the U.N. aviation agency’s assembly in Montreal.
Captain Najomo said COMAC officials had offered maintenance and training support for any planes operated by Nigerian carriers, and were exploring dry lease arrangements, which involve leasing aircraft without crew.
“We just told them that if they can make sure they facilitate a good dry lease arrangement, it’s better,” the NCAA helmsman said.
He said the development was boosting confidence among lessors, enabling the country’s 13 airlines to access newer planes on the leasing market.
Currently, the C919 is operated only by Chinese airlines.
While air travel remains costly for many Nigerians, average real airfare fell 43.6 per cent between 2011 and 2023, according to data from IATA.
The latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), last year, show that Nigeria’s avation sector has been valued at around N258 billion based on recently released rebased Gross Domestic Product (GDP) numbers. The sector has been hampered by low investments, Naira devaluation, and inflationary pressures.
However, recent recoveries in the Nigerian economy indicate that some may have ripple effect on the aviation sector.