NCAA clarifies Max Air suspension

NCAA clarifies Max Air suspension
Abdullateef Fowewe

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority has clarified claims its suspended the operation of Max Air airline.

The NCAA noted that the airline decided to take a three-month operational break themselves and was not suspended by the regulatory agency .

Dailyeconomy had earlier reported that the Max Air experienced a mishap where one of the plane’s tyre bursted while landing at the Kano airport on Tuesday night.

However, the NCAA’s Director of Public Affairs, Michael Achimuhu, in an interview with Arise TV on Thursday, explained that air mishaps are almost an unavoidable phenomenon just like other means of transportation, and that the NCAA would ensure to carry out an audit on Max Air, to ensure safety before resumption.

He said, “First of all let me correct the impression that the NCAA had suspended Max Air.

“The airline suspended their operations themselves and has asked for three months to put their house in order. Before now, the NCAA had initiated an audit for all it’s operators, that process has been ongoing but not completed before this incident had happened.

“The thing about air incident just like other means of transportation, they’re machines, anything can happen. It’s not a systemic fault or a pattern. Air accidents happen everywhere, you may recall that last month there was a large number of air mishaps around the world.

“It’s instructive to boast that Nigeria is not even amongst the top 50 or 20 countries when it comes to air mishaps. However, the moment has come for self introspection by this airline and the NCAA is glad that they’ve taken this bold step to enhance their system.

“Safety remains a priority for the NCAA and a thorough audit will be carried out to ensure that before they resume operations again, they are healthy.”

Dailyeconomy had on Wednesday, reported that the Max Air has announced a suspension of its domestic flight operations for 90 days, effective January 31, 2025, following a recent emergency landing incident involving one of its aircraft.

Max Air in a statement made available for Dailyeconomy on Wednesday, noted that all the affected passengers would be refunded, stating that its customer service team would be on the ground to render any form of assistance.