United Nigeria Airlines stated that it will begin regional and international flight operations as soon as it is listed on the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) registry.
This was revealed by United Nigeria Airlines’ chief operating officer, Maxi Osita Okonkwo, during the presentation of the IOSA award to the airline by representatives of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), West and Central Africa, Dr Samson Fatokun, at the airline’s Lagos office.
Okonkwo stated that the airline receiving the IOSA certificate less than two years after it began operations is one step towards the airline’s long-term goals of expanding regionally and internationally.
He went on to say that being on the IOSA register was a necessary condition and requirement for going international, and that the process was eye-opening.
“It was a serious process that opened our eyes to many things,” he says, “and this is one step towards our long-term objectives because we have plans to go regional and international, and being on the IATA register is a necessary condition and requirement.” We are pleased, and we encourage you to keep an eye on this space for further announcements in the coming weeks and months.”The IOSA audit programme was very serious, and it opened our eyes to so many things. It’s a privilege and a responsibility all rolled into one, and we managed to get through it and become successful. We want to thank our entire team, especially those who worked long hours, days, and months to get us to this point. We also thank IATA and the audit team, which came from all over the world.”
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“When we started operations from day one, we made this part of our programmes, and our chairman said anything we need to do to be internationally recognised, to be in the IATA register, we should do it within two years of our operations, and I can tell you that we achieved that within two years of our operations, but it wouldn’t have been easy without support from stakeholders and regulators,” Okonkwo said.
In addition, Dr Samson Fatokun, IATA’s representative in West and Central Africa, announced that United Airlines has joined the list of few airlines in the sub-region on IOSA’s registry.
According to him, six Nigerian airlines are on the IOSA register, making Nigeria the only African country with the highest IOSA certificate.
He did, however, warn the airline operator that maintaining a presence in the registry is difficult and time-consuming, as most airlines struggle to keep their status.
“It’s a great opportunity for us at IATA to present the prestigious IOSA certificate to any airline because we know what it takes to achieve that feat and, as you said, you are already at this level where you can be said to have adhered to the global safety standard at its best,” Fatokun said. That is a fantastic achievement, and we would like to congratulate you on it, as well as the team who worked on it.”It’s a good accomplishment, but staying there is more difficult and demanding. We have airlines that arrive but are unable to stay. We can’t expect anything less, and you’ve done an excellent job. IOSA is both a means and an end to achieving higher levels such as IATA membership and much more.
“We have very few airlines on the IOSA registry in the West and Central Africa region at the moment, and you are one of them, and for an airline that came onboard in less than two years, that is very good, and we hope you will be able to sustain that.” Nigeria has six airlines on the IOSA registry, making it the only country in Africa with this number of IOSA member airlines. There is no other African country, not even South Africa. “I would like to congratulate Nigerian operators.”
Fatokun, on the other hand, stated that the IOSA audit is meant to supplement and not compete with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) safety audit.
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“IOSA supports the regulator, the NCAA; we are all working towards the same goal, which is safety, which is our top priority.” Working with NCAA, the local regulator, to achieve this, we can see the results in terms of safety on our flights and safety record as a country, so IOSA does not come to replace them, but to support them.
“It’s a symbiotic relationship to ensure that the same goal of keeping our flight safe is met.” It also implies that you are on par with other international carriers in terms of safety standards and rigours,” he concluded.
