FAA Sets December 31 as Deadline-AFRAA

 FAA Wants Some Airlines to Replace Radio Altimeter, sets December 31, as Deadline

ZAINAB JUNAID

The Federal Aviation Administration has set December 31, 2022 as the deadline for particular aircraft models including Airbus A300, A320, A330, A340, B737 classic, B747 and B757 respectively, to have their radio Altimeter retrofitted or face sanction.

Raphael Kuuchi, Aviation Management Consultant, disclosed this at the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) virtual Industry Affairs briefing held yesterday.

Raphael said aircraft that are not retrofitted will be subject to restrictions in the US market.

Radio Altimeters are used to give data on airplanes height above ground for bad weather landings but the roll out of the new 5G band technology in the State is causing interference.

Kuuchi maintained that airlines that do not comply may face sanction as FAA had said.

However, FAA according to reports had earlier notified airlines in May this year to ensure they comply with this regulations but an airline trade group had declined comment in this regard, hence the sanction notice from the Administration. 

On Passenger Revenue loss for African Airlines, he said in 2022 compared to 2019, it is estimated to $3.5 billion representing 20% of 2019 revenue; in third quarter of the year 2022, the loss is $0.8 billion while that of fourth quarter stood at $0.4 billion. 

Aero Contractors to Relaunch Flight

 Aero Contractors to Relaunch Flight Operations in December 5 

Nigeria’s oldest aviation company Aero Contractors is relaunching scheduled services in the Nigerian market to ten destinations from Monday, December 5th, 2022.

The airline suspended scheduled services on July 20 and having satisfied regulatory requirements, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authorities (NCAA) has given approval for Aero Contractors to commence operations.

The airline will be operating with Boeing 737 and Dash 8 (Q-400) servicing ten destinations. These destinations include Warri, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Benin, Yola, Sokoto, Kano, Asaba, and Calabar.

Aero Contractors is commencing operations with a new Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Capt. Ado Sanusi and a new Chief Finance Officer, Charles Grant.

The airline has three business units, namely: the Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO), the fixed and rotary wing airline operation, and the training unit.

According to the airline’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Capt. Ado: “We are pleased and delighted to return to services after a few months. We thank all our stakeholders who have been supportive, particularly the NCAA, our management, and staff. I admit that we missed our customers dearly.

“We are determined to offer great travel experience to our customers during this season and beyond We look forward to welcoming them on board.”