April 20, (THEWILL) – The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), in collaboration with Lufthansa Airlines, has reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to ensuring sustainability in the aviation sector.
This firm commitment was made at the exclusive discourse event organised by Lufthansa Airlines at the Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.
During the discourse, it was emphasised that Airlines, Airports, Aircraft Manufacturers, and Regulators must all play their roles to promote eco-friendly practices by lowering carbon emissions, improving fuel efficiency, developing alternative energy sources, and enhancing operational efficiency for the sustainability of the aviation industry.
Director of Air Transport Regulations, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Mrs Olayinka Babaoye-Iriobe, represented by Mrs Evelyn Tanko, Deputy General Manager, (Commercial Agreement & Aviation Environment), stated that the Authority is empowered by the Civil Aviation Act, 2022 to regulate environmental issues and further to reiterate its commitments to the sustainability of the industry.
NCAA has domesticated ICAO Annex 16 on Environmental Protection into the National regulations under Part 16 of Nig. CARS, which covers requirements for monitoring, reporting, and verification of CO2 Emissions for international aviation, and Part 5 addresses aircraft noise and emission certification.
The Director highlighted some of the NCAA’s initiatives regarding the industry’s sustainability, including the development of a State Action Plan on reducing CO2 Emissions from international aviation. Nigeria voluntarily joined the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) during its pilot phase in 2018 and has continued to ensure the timely submission of CO2 emission data from airlines under CORSIA. The NCAA is also leading a Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) Roadmap for the development and deployment of SAF in Nigeria.
She added that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) is rolling out Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) at major airports ultimately to reduce their carbon emissions and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, (NAMA) has implemented Free Route Airspace (FRA) and Performance-Based Navigation (PBN) all efforts for the reduction of carbon footprints and towards the sustainability of the industry.
Key challenges in implementing and scaling sustainability policies within the aviation sector were identified, including a fragmented policy environment, limited data and monitoring systems, financing constraints, regulatory and institutional capacity, awareness, and industry readiness.
Also speaking at the panel session, the Senior Director (Sales), Lufthansa Sub-Saharan Africa, Mr Rene Koinzack, said that the airline has deployed Science-Based Target Initiatives (SBTI), which comprises modern fleet, efficient flight operations, carbon neutral flying, sustainable aviation fuel, reduction of waste and plastics as part of their effort to sustain the industry.
Anthony Awunor, is a business correspondent who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics (UNILAG). He is also an alumnus of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria Kaduna State. He lives in Lagos.
