Arik Air, Nigeria and West Africa’s largest commercial airline, has passed the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA). The international evaluation system is a requirement and precursor to full IATA membership; membership of IATA accords an airline a range of operational benefits such as enhanced opportunities for code-share.

The airline is only the second Nigerian carrier to receive the certificate, although it is the only one currently on the IOSA registration that is fully operational under its own AOC with over 150 flights daily from its hub in Lagos, Nigeria.

For an airline to pass all requirements it must comply with eight varying criteria including Flight Operations, Engineering and Maintenance, Flight Dispatch, Cabin Operations, Security, Ground Handling, Cargo and Organisation & Management

The IOSA was conducted in September 2010 by an independent auditing group. Arik Air is now on the IOSA register until 1st October 2012 before being required to undertake the audit again to register for a further two years.

Dr Michael Arumemi-Ikhide, CEO & President of Arik Air, commented on the IOSA registration;
“The significance of this accreditation cannot be overstated; this is a major milestone in Arik Air’s relatively short history of operations and is a testament to the rapidity with which we have developed as an airline. It is now important to ensure that we continue to maintain the very high standards that we have attained, and been recognised for, through this certification. From day one we set out to establish an airline that would be an IATA member and with the IOSA registration we are nearly there, which is a remarkable achievement having only launched in October 2006.”