Azman Air has renewed its Air Transport Licence (ATL) and it is now allowed to fly up to 2027.

Nigerian airline Azman Air renewed its Air Transport Licence after the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) had suspended the carrier because of its inability to renew the license and unpaid outstanding legacy debt. Let's give a closer look into the matter.

The privately-owned Nigerian carrier Azman Air has officially renewed its Air Transport Licence (ATL). The news came approximately 24 hours after the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority's (NCAA) decision to suspend the carrier's ATL.

Azman Air's new ATL was signed on September 16th by the Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Musa Nuhu, in Abuja. According to the new Air Transport License, Azman Airlines is now authorized to fly for five years, from 2022 to 2027, before another renewal will be required.

Not only had Azman Air failed to renovate its flying license autonomously, but the airline also had outstanding legacy payments in the amount of Naira N1.2 billion. The legacy debt stemmed from the 5% Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) and Cargo Sale Charge (CSC), which are regularly collected from the sale of passenger and cargo services.

Following the Air Transport License renewal, the airline is now allowed to re-commence operations. Additionally, Azman Air has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to structure the repayment of the outstanding debt, which is based on an N50 million monthly payment until the debt is ultimately settled.

Azman Air has also submitted the tax and security clearance forms to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) after an inexplicable initial reluctance. The tax and security clearance are two of the documents required by the Civil Aviation Authority to issue the Air Transport License (ATL) or Air Operator Certificate (AOC), as well as for their renewal.

Azman Air N1.2 billion legacy debt stemming from the 5% Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) and Cargo Sales Charge (CSC) is proportionately attributed to five different Nigerian aviation agencies:

More than half of Azman Air's debt, namely 58%, is destined for the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), while the other four agencies share the remaining 42%.

Azman Air is a Nigerian privately-owned carrier that was founded back in 2010.

According to ch-aviation, the carrier operates a fleet of seven aircraft, five of which are short/medium-haul Boeing B737s, while the airline also owns an Airbus A340-600. However, just two Boeing B737-500s are being operated, whereas the rest of the fleet is currently stored. The two operating aircraft are the 29-year-old, 120-seater 5N-HBY and the 24-year-old, 112-seater 5N-AIS.

Domestically, Azman Air operates flights from two main bases, Lagos and Abuja. From the former, the carrier operates services to: ​​​​​​

From Abuja, on the other hand, Azman Air flies to:

Additionally, the carrier operates return services from Kano to Kebbi, Lagos, and Abuja.

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According to the Official Airline Guide (OAG), by the end of the third quarter of 2022, the airline will have deployed 413,912 seats on return flights from Nigeria, for a total capacity of 293,998,784 Available Seats Kilometres (ASKs). Over the same period, the airline's busiest service is the domestic service between Lagos and Kano, for a total of 64,428 seats, followed by Kano to Lagos and Abuja to Kano. With the Airbus A340 stored, the airline is not operating any intercontinental services; moreover, in the first nine months of 2022, Azman Air operates domestic services only. In terms of frequencies, Azman Air is Nigeria's eighth-largest airline.

Simple Flying reached out to Azman Air for further comment. We will update the article with any additional announcements from the airline.

Writer - Giacomo has almost two years of experience as an aviation reporter. Currently, he is pursuing a master's in Air Transport Management at the University of Surrey. His main areas of interest include network and fleet planning, airline partnerships, aviation finance, and marketing. Currently based in the UK.