The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), have commenced the implementation of Africa- Indian Ocean (AFI) Plan Aerodrome Certification Project for Abuja and Lagos Airports.
The  announcement was made at a Pre-Certification meeting between the Director-General, NCAA, Capt. Mukhtar Usman, and the team from ICAO Western and Central Africa (WACAF) yesterday in Lagos.
Team Leader and Regional Director of ICAO WACAF, Mr. Mam Jallow said the objective of their mission was to follow up on the AFI Plan Certification project, and assist Nigeria with technical guidance toward the certification process.
According to him, two airports were selected from Nigeria for AFI Plan Aerodrome certification project, while one airport was selected from other states in the AFI Region.
“The two airports are Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
“These two airports were chosen due to the volume of traffic in Nigeria. Nigeria has the largest passenger traffic in the African continent,” Jallow said.
He said the AFI Plan was adopted by the 36th ICAO Assembly to address the safety status of aircraft operations in the AFI Region.
Jallow said the plan was meant to address three focal areas which are: to establish and maintain a sustainable oversight system (infrastructure/capacity building) and assist states to resolve identified deficiencies within reasonable time.
According to him, it is also aimed at enhancing aviation safety culture of African aviation service providers.
He said the ICAO WACAF signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with NCAA and FAAN as participants in the ICAO AFI Plan Project in Dakar, Senegal, on Aug. 11, 2016.
Jallow said that the ICAO WACAF meets twice a year and their next meeting was scheduled for May 2017.
He, therefore, said all hands should be on deck to achieve a successful certification and present the report during the meeting.
Earlier, in his welcome address, Usman affirmed that the project was crucial to global aviation, as regards safety and security of the airport environment.
He said that the aerodrome certification was in line with the ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs).
“The Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (NCARs) and all the necessary instrumentation for the process are already in place.
“The Aerodrome Certification process in Nigeria is carried out in five phases. At present, the ongoing certification of MMIA and NAIA have reached phases three and two respectively,” Usman said.
He noted that the NCAA had trained technical personnel who were competent to handle the challenges that might be encountered during the certification exercise.
The director-general expressed appreciation to the ICAO WACAF team for their efforts in providing additional momentum to the aerodrome certification.
He assured the body that Nigeria would meet up with the certification requirements within the stipulated time frame.
The Tide gathered that the team also met with the management of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) as part of the Pre-Certification formalities.
The delegation, alongside the aviation top bosses, thereafter undertook an inspection of facilities at the MMIA.