NCAA, Lufthansa join forces for sustainability in aviation

Sade Williams/Business a.m.

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and Germany’s international carrier, Lufthansa Airlines have joined forces in making unwavering commitment to ensure sustainability in Nigeria’s aviation sector.

Lufthansa Airlines recently organised its ‘exclusive discourse’ event in Lagos, Nigeria where both organisations expressed their commitment.

Olayinka Babaoye-Iriobe, director, air transport regulations, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), represented by Evelyn Tanko, deputy general manager, commercial agreement & aviation environment, explained that the Authority is empowered by the Civil Aviation Act, 2022 to regulate environmental issues, adding that to reiterate its commitments to the sustainability of the industry, the 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 that addresses aircraft noise and emission certification.

The director highlighted some of the initiatives of the NCAA on the sustainability of the industry, including the development of a state action plan on CO2 emission reduction from international aviation, Nigeria’s voluntarily joining the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) during its pilot phase in 2018 and continuing to ensure the timely submission of CO2 emission data from airlines under CORSIA; also, leading on 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 aiming to reduce their carbon emissions, while the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has implemented Free Route Airspace (FRA) and Performance-Based Navigation (PBN), all of which are efforts to reduce carbon footprints and achieve the sustainability of the industry.

But standing in the way are fragmented policy environments, limited data and monitoring systems, financing constraints, regulatory and institutional capacity, awareness, and industry readiness, which are hindering implementation and scaling sustainability policies within the aviation sector.

Rene Koinzack, senior director, sales, Lufthansa sub-Saharan Africa, during the panel session, said that the airline has deployed Science-Based Target Initiatives (SBTI) which comprise 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.

The Lufthansa exclusive discourse emphasised that airlines, airports, aircraft manufacturers, and regulators must all play their roles to promote eco-friendly practices by lowering carbon emissions, improve fuel efficiency, develop alternative energy sources, and enhance operational efficiency for the sustainability of the aviation industry.