Xejet (4U, Lagos) has confirmed the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority has suspended its air transport license (ATL) and air operator's certificate (AOC) after querying the authenticity of insurance documents of an E145.

Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel Iza confirmed to ch-aviation: "We received a letter last night from the NCAA suspending our ATL and AOC because the insurance certificate belonging to one of the managed aircraft under our AOC could not be verified by the insurance company."

"We have engaged the NCAA the whole of today [August 31], providing them with all the necessary evidence of compliance. I am sure the suspension will be lifted in the next day or so." He said the aircraft in question was the EMB-145LR, 5N-BZM (msn 14500842), which Xejet had sold late last year to Kanem Air (Maiduguri). "They don’t have an AOC yet. So we are keeping it on our AOC until their AOC is ready," he explained.

According to a letter by the NDC to the airline, published by Nigeria's The Sun newspaper, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) had flagged concerns about the authenticity of documents that "did not emanate from Consolidated Hallmark Insurance as presented to the authority."

"In view of the above, the authority is investigating the matter and hereby suspends your Air Operators Certificate (AOC) with certificate No. XEIETIA0C/01-22/001 for safety considerations and public interest in accordance with section 59 (7) of the Civil Aviation Act with immediate effect pending the conclusion of our investigation," The Sun cited the NCAA letter.

Consequently, the NCAA grounded the airline's fleet, including:

The business travel start-up secured its certification for non-scheduled charter operations in Africa early in 2022.