The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has unveiled plans to reduce the processing timeline for Air Operator Certificate (AOC) to about 90 days as part of its sweeping digital transformation programme aimed at modernising aviation regulatory processes in the country.
Speaking at the unveiling of the Modern Personnel Licensing and Certification (MPLC) NCAA Digital Transformation Initiative PEL/MED Stakeholder Engagement held at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Chris Najomo, said the initiative would eliminate bureaucratic bottlenecks associated with manual licensing and certification systems.
Daily Trust reports that AOC approval used to take over five years while some airlines spent more years processing the approval which takes five phases.
However, Najomo disclosed that the authority had already reduced the timeline for obtaining an AOC from between one and two years to between six and eight months under the current administration, stressing that the new digital platform would further cut the process down to approximately 90 days.
According to him, the initiative represents a major milestone in the modernisation of aviation oversight in Nigeria and aligns with global best practices in regulatory efficiency and safety oversight.
