Earlier this week, Uganda’s national courier Uganda Airlines received the long awaited great new after The Civil Aviation Authority approved the two A330-800 Neo Airbuses and included them on Uganda Airlines’ Air Operators Certificate (AOC).
The Airbuses arrived last December and January this year, but they remained grounded pending CAA’s approval.
Uganda Airlines made the announcement on their Twitte handler, saying: “Hooray! The wait is over! Uganda Airlines’ big cranes, the Airbuses, have been added to our Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) and will soon be set to fly long haul. Welcome to a new world of greater connectivity.”
It should be known that the approval process takes five phases including pre-application, application, and document evaluation, demonstration of the approved documents and inclusion of the aircraft on the existing Air Operator’s Certificate thus making the process a long wait.
However, what does the Air Operators Certificate mean to the booming airline?
An air operator’s certificate (AOC) is the approval granted by a national aviation authority (NAA) to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets and system in place to ensure the safety of its employees and the general public. The certificate will list the aircraft types and registrations to be used, for what purpose and in what area – specific airports or geographic region.
Any individual, organisation or Company that wishes to operate an aircraft for the purpose of commercial air transport must, by law, obtain an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from the Civil Aviation Authority.
The Air Operator Certificate allows you to charge to fly passengers and / or cargo on your aircraft, whether this is a jet airliner operating on a trans-continental scheduled service, a helicopter flying passengers to oil platforms in the North Sea, or a hot air balloon offering pleasure flights.
An AOC is valuable. It shows the relevant NAA’s acceptance of the operator’s personnel, infrastructure and procedures.
This means once an Arline is granted this certificate, in this case Uganda Airline, it a confirmation and a sign of trust that the airline has under gone all the mandatory trial stages and has all it takes to commence a safe and viable travel business.
Additionally, this means that the approved aircraft can commence commercial flights and operate independents while under surveillance of the national Aviation Authority.
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