The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has granted 7Star Global Hangar Ltd the approval to operate full maintenance repair and overhaul facility.
The chief executive officer of the company and former national president of the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), Mr. Isaac Balami disclosed this in a statement in Lagos.
“We are happy to announce that after over 15 months of the NCAA reviewing our variation and our operational specifications and also expanding our capability list in wheels and brakes, NDT etc, we have finally finished our phase five which is the last stage in the certification process and we have been granted final approval,” he said.
Balami stated that the approval was given after the company invested $10 million on equipment, tools and training.
With the approval, he said Nigeria and indeed the entire West African region would save over $1 billion annually from ferrying their aircraft offshore for different types of maintenance.
“7StarGlobal is the First independent privately owned MRO in West and Central Africa.
“The huge capital in aircraft maintenance we often experience, amounting to over $1 billion that is annually spent in West Africa alone is going to help to create jobs here in Nigeria,” he added.
He stressed that 7Star will be focusing on aircraft MRO saying operations are starting with aircraft that are more often taken overseas for inspection.
He said he was aware of the difficulties airlines go through to fly their airplanes overseas for repairs, incurring huge costs to operators of the aircraft.
“We went through the process of certification from phase 1 to 5 and today, with about six to seven experienced inspectors NCAA assigned to this project; we have been able to go through the process.
“The MRO is fully ready for operations and we are going to be operating with other sister MROs and hangars across the country.
“We have MoU with Aero; we will work together to complement each other. Not one MRO, not even Lufthansa Technik has all the tools in the world. So it is all about collaboration”.
“We have invested over $5 million on equipment alone. These are equipment that the NCAA team came to inspect and they are satisfied and the equipment are all overhauled, calibrated, and up-to-date, and our engineers are well-trained on how to operate the equipment. We are happy and proud about the history Nigeria is making even in West Africa,” he said.
On employment generation, he said: “When you have 68 certified engineers, you have about 100 technicians working to support them. And these are just core licensed and certified staff. I am not talking about the planning department, technical records, quality and safety department, logistics, the store, and facility,” he said.
On the maintenance specification, Balami said the organization can carry out operations as permitted by the NCAA.
“We are happy to say goodbye to four years inspection/maintenance on Augusta 139 helicopters which most VIPs, even the presidency, most oil and gas companies (Mobil, Shell, and Chevron) operate.
“We also have EC 155 up to 6000 hours/12 years’ inspection. On the Learjet 45, about 9,600 hours’ inspection. On the small Cessna aircraft, we have about 100 hours/annual inspection. On the Bombardier DHC-8 100/200/300 (C Checks/8000FH), DHC-8 400 (C checks/8000FH), Challenger 601/604/605 (2400 hours inspections), Hawker Siddeley HS 125-850/900 (A-G Inspections), Bell 429 (5000 hours/5 years inspections), Embraer 135/145 (Up 5000hours/48months inspections), Embraer 600/650 (20000 hours/96 Months Inspections) and Boeing 737-300/400/500 (Up to 8A inspections), we have the highest inspection in most of the Aircraft as stipulated in the manufacturer’s manual.
‘That means a lot of job creation for the aviation industry and we are happy. Aside from about 10 expatriates that we have to transfer technology and train our engineers on some few areas that we are not yet strong at, we already have about 68 local engineers that have the manufacturers’ type-course on those aircraft.
“They are experienced, they are current and most of them with at least 20-30 years of experience working on these aircrafts and working across the globe (US, UK, Canada, and the Middle East). So we have one of the best teams on the ground. I can tell you that your aircraft is safe with 7 Star Global Hangar”.
