After going through the rigorous five-step certification process of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Badus Aviation has received certification from the Agency to commence operations as an Aircraft Maintenance Organization (AMO), with registration number AMO/5N/BGA.
The document to this effect which was handed over recently in Abuja and signed by the Director of Airworthiness Standards, NCAA, specifies that Badus Aviation can now commence maintenance of specific jets including certain series of the Hawker, Cessna and Challenger aircraft types.
Commenting on the certification process, Badus Aviation’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO)/Accountable Manager, Mr. Kolade Olawale said, “The process took us about sixteen (16) months, and we give glory to God that today we have achieved our objective. We thank the NCAA for making it easy to do business because otherwise, it wouldn’t have been easy for us. We have fifteen (15) staff in total: four (04) engineers, five (05) technicians and other ad-hoc staff, and we are looking forward to launch into the market in a week or two.”
Delving deeper into specifics, Olawale listed the series of the aircraft types which will be at the centre of the AMO’s activities thus:
“Hawker 125, 700, 800 and 900 XP series. TFE-731-series APU and Sundstrand T62 T GTCP 36-150;
Challenger CL 600 (Lycoming ALF 502L, General Electric CF24-3A, APU: GTCP 36-150) CL-601 (General Electric CF34 series, APU: GTCP 36-150), CL-604 (General Electric CF34 series, APU: GTCP38-150) CL-605 (General Electric CF34 series, APU: GTCP36-150;
Cessna 152(Lycoming O-235) CESSNA 172 (Continental 0-300 Lycoming 0-320, Lycoming 0-360) CESSNA 182 & 206 (Lycoming 0-540 series CESSNA 208 (PT 6) series”, he said.
According to the Badus Aviation chief, the NCAA’s nod is a much welcome development since most of these aircraft types are used in Nigeria in particular and in West Africa in general. The AMO will therefore make it possible for aircraft owners to save up to 20% on maintenance.
“There are a lot of opportunities in the aviation industry yet to be harnessed. I had discovered that aircraft are usually taken out of Nigeria for maintenance. We have indigenous engineers who are capable and well trained but don’t have opportunities of working here in Nigeria. In view of this, I decided to invest in the industry so as to create jobs and to curb capital flight”, he said.
