The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority announced the conclusion of its rule-making process on the fourth amendment to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations, publishing the new edition, cited as Nig.CARs 2023, with an effective date of 1 July 2023.
The revised regulations supersede Nig.CARs 2015 and update requirements spanning personnel licensing, approved training organisations, aircraft registration, air operator certification, air navigation services and aerodrome standards, among other areas. The NCAA said the amendment was intended to bring the Nigerian rulebook into conformity with the latest Standards and Recommended Practices adopted by the International Civil Aviation Organization since the previous edition was issued.
A Phased Transition
The authority said both web-based and PDF versions of Nig.CARs 2023 were made available on its website, with gazetted hard copies to follow at a later date. Existing licence and certificate holders were told that documents issued under the 2015 regulations would remain valid until their next renewal, at which point they would need to comply with the new provisions, while applications already in process at the time of publication would generally be required to meet the updated standards.
Individual parts of the regulations, covering areas from air traffic services to aircraft type certification, carried their own effective dates through the year as the authority rolled out the full amendment, with several taking effect through August 2023.
Part of a Wider Safety Push
The update came as Nigeria continued efforts to improve its standing on ICAO's safety oversight audits, building on a series of aviation reforms pursued since the regulations were last comprehensively revised, and formed part of the broader legal and institutional framework the authority said it would rely on as new leadership took over the aviation ministry the following month.
