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Sunday, March 17, 2013

► NIGERIA: Dana Air grounded as Aviation Ministry revokes its AOC.

Dana AirNigeria's Dana Air (9J), has had its Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) revoked by the Nigerian Ministry of Aviation acting through the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). The move comes only 3 months after the carrier received its revalidated AOC and resumed operations.

Dana Air relaunch to Abuja
Dana Air in Abuja
According to a Dana air press statement, the airline has "temporarily" suspended flight operations following a directive issued by Ministry of Aviation via the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) on Saturday, 16 March, 2013; no specific reason has been given for the grounding.

A meeting is scheduled between Dana Air's management, the Ministry of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah-Ogiemwonyi, and the NCAA for Monday 18 March.

While no official reason has been made public as of this writing, a Nigerian Parliamentary inquest in February recommended the airline's grounding following the crash of Dana Air 9J-997 in Lagos in June 2012 with the loss of 156 lives. 

The same inquest also recommended, and ultimately obtained, the controversial dismissal of the former Director General of the NCAA, Dr Harold Demuren.