The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, has disclosed that there are 146 corporate jets in the country of which only 46 were registered in Nigeria while 100 has foreign registration.

Director General of NCAA, Captain Muhktar Usman revealed this when he addressed public relations officers of airlines, aviation agencies and other organizations in the industry during a meeting organized by the Authority. The meeting was aimed at improving the ways of reporting incidents and accidents in the industry.

He also disclosed that there were 30 certified air operators, over 400 in-service aircraft registered in Nigeria and 130 helicopters.

According to him, the ultimate aim of operators and others involved in air transport should be to ensure safety and assured that NCAA would continue to progressively strengthen oversight responsibilities to entrench safe and secure air transportation in the country.

Usman said: “This forum however, is to take a cursory look at our information dissemination as it relates to handling and reporting safety vis-à-vis incidents and accidents. It is not entirely a new discussion in various fora, but the approach requires tinkering. There is a need for a unified communication and integration among all the information managers of all the agencies.

“We should put on the table a synergy and a robust working relationship among all of you. When I say all of you, this includes the public relations apparatchik of NCAA. If we commence integrated information, there will be a concerted approach when there are incidences. On the reality, an airline operation is not without its own fair share of incidences worldwide.”

He stated that the basic principles of air navigation are identical to general navigation, which include the process of planning, recording and controlling the movement of a craft from one place to another.