AZMAN Air, one of Nigeria’s domestic airlines, may face sanction over alleged smuggling of two Nigerian registered aircraft to Mahran Air, this newspaper reports.
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has said it would write to its counterpart in Iran, the Civil Aviation Authority of Islamic Republic of Iran (CAA.IRI) over the status of the two aircraft.
The aircraft – Airbus A340-600 with registration number: 5N-AAM and Boeing 737-300 with the registration number: 5N-YSM – were sold without the knowledge of the NCAA.
They were sold to the Iranian airline in violation of international sanctions against Iran and the aircraft are present at Teram Imam Khomeini (IKA) and Tehran and Mehrabad (THR), Iran, respectively.
A report by the Middle East Forum indicated that Mahan Air, Iran’s largest airline, used Azman Air to deliver the Airbus A340-642 aircraft to it on November 15, 2024.
According to the report, the aircraft was flying from Kano to Kabul when its crew turned off the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) transponder at an altitude of 39,000 feet after entering Iranian airspace, though it eventually landed at Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport.
It would be recalled that the United States and the European Union had imposed sanctions against Iran, forbidding countries from dealing with them for aircraft dealing.
The report said, “The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned both the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and many Iranian officials due to their support for terrorism, though since the Biden administration entered office in 2021, the Iranian regime has implemented measures to circumvent sanctions.”
Director, Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, NCAA, Mr. Michael Achimugu, in an interview stated that the regulatory agency would write the Iranian CAA for clarity on the status of the two aircraft.
There was no immediate response from Azman Air as of press time as a call to the Chairman, Alhaji Abdulmunaf Sarina did not connect while a text message to him was not replied.
Azman Air has suspended operation since March 2023 while its entire staff was furloughed.
The company later commenced operations in 2024 but several media reported in August this year that it had suspended operations again.
Azman Air commenced scheduled operations in 2014 with two Boeing 737 aircraft, which grew to seven at its peak but later decreased to just four.
According to Abdulmunafi, it is inaccurate for media reports to state that the airline has indefinitely suspended operations.
He said: “We are currently finalising the maintenance of two of our aircraft, and we anticipate resuming our full flight operations very soon.”