Trade & mobilityAviationNigeria
Obtain an Air Operator Certificate (airline)
Certify an airline with the NCAA: pre-application (legal & financial) → formal application & manuals → inspection & demonstration flights → issuance of the AOC.
- Procedure
- 4steps
- Coordination
- 1agency
- Category
- Trade & mobilityAviation
Task links
Go to the exact next page
Application, requirements, forms, fees, and tracking are labelled separately.
Routing map
Who you will deal with
Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA)
Procedure
The steps, in order
Each route below is scoped to the step it can actually complete.
01 Pre-application phase
- Agency
- Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA)
- What is required
- New applicants demonstrate legal registration and financial soundness; the NCAA assesses economic viability before the safety-certification process.
- Documents
- Company registration; financial evidence; business plan
- Typical timeline
- Pre-application
02 Formal application and manuals
- Agency
- Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA)
- What is required
- Submit the formal application with operations and maintenance manuals and required documents for evaluation.
- Documents
- Operations & maintenance manuals; documents
- Typical timeline
- Application stage
03 Inspection and demonstration flights
- Agency
- Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA)
- What is required
- The NCAA evaluates the policies, processes and procedures described in the manuals, including through demonstration flights.
- Documents
- Aircraft; crew; demonstrated procedures
- Typical timeline
- Certification phase
04 Issuance of the AOC
- Agency
- Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA)
- What is required
- On satisfaction, the AOC is issued. Validity: 3 years (non-scheduled) or 5 years (scheduled commercial operators). Fees per the NCAA Schedule of Fees by aircraft type/weight.
- Documents
- Passed certification
- Typical timeline
- 3-5 year validity