A ray of hope for an estimated 2000 jobs opportunities in the Nigeria aviation industry arose on Wednesday night when the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) granted approval to an indigenous maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) firm, 7Star Global Hangar Limited the approval to carry out 3C, CPCP, ADS and ADD on Dana airlines MD83 aircraft with the registration number, 5N-SAI.
The approval letter, signed on behalf of the Director General by the NCAA General Manager for ACCA, Engr. Goyea urged 7STAR to comply with all extant provisions of Nig. CARs and in particular Nig. CARs part 6, and in addition, all tasks requiring detailed, X-ray and HFEC inspections.
The elated Managing Director and CEO, 7Star Global Hangar Limited, Engr. Isaac Balami, said the development automatically leads to the employment of 30 aircraft engineers to carry out works on the aircraft while an estimated 2000 jobless licensed aircraft engineers will be gainfully employed if local airlines, private jet owners, state and federal governments patronise and support the employment initiative.
Balami disclosed that 7Star has done five C and D checks on various aircrafts with Augusta 139 8 Years Inspection (D-Check) being the first time in the history of Africa that the level will be done on that particular helicopter that he regarded as a complex new generation helicopter and affirmed that the approval on MD 83 showed that NCAA has recognised 7Star’s worth and effort to ensure its drive for aircraft serviceability across the West Africa region.
The appointment will see 7Star increase employment in the local community and train fresh engineers in the MD80 range of aircraft just as it will further boost the MROs service offering and will help to put the Nigerian MRO sector on the world map.
Speaking at the occasion, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Dana Group, Mr. Sukhwinder Mann said the company made the decision to appoint an indigenous MRO firm to service its aircraft because of Dana’s Group’s pledge to boost the local economy whilst ensuring further development of the Nigerian aviation sector.
He said “I am pleased to announce that we have selected 7Star as our preferred MRO partner, the appointment will further enhance the 7Star range of MRO services to now include the MD80 aircraft range which means more jobs for the Nigerian aviation sector and potentially makes the Nigerian MRO sector more attractive to foreign carriers wishing to undertake heavy maintenance checks within the African continent. To give something back to Nigeria and reinvest in the sector gives me great pride and follows up on our key principles of Africa first.”
“We feel happy that the NCAA has recognized our effort and we know the need to comply with all the regulations and safety requirements. There is nothing like the Nigerian Standard but one Global Aviation Standard which we practice with the guidance and Support of the NCAA and our Technical Partners.” Balami noted.
In the same vein, Balami noted that a test flight was conducted on AW-139 some few days ago after the D-Check and the aircraft came back with zero technical faults.
He also revealed that a 20-year maintenance and inspection on a Challenger 604 jet belonging to a Nigerian operator was concluded last month and this is unprecedentedly the first time in West Africa.
The 7Star boss said the company’s management remains grateful that the jobs were being done with about 90 percent of Nigerians.
“As Africans, we are happy that we are stopping the huge capital flight and a lot of the jobless aircraft engineers that are hanging around the airport will have something doing”
Balami said having carried out more than five checks and everything was working accordingly without any query and technical issues showed that Nigerian aircraft engineers and their partners NHV were making good efforts.
He said the company was building the next generation of aircraft engineers and also transferring technology. He added that the knowledge transfer is with the support of Her Sister Company, Lead Stream Aviation Training.
Meanwhile the NCAA has urged Dana Air to see their partnership with 7Star as a means of building local content and creating jobs in the country through it.
