NAMA overhauls airports to head off harmattan and other weather hassles
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
A general overhaul of navigational facilities at airports across the country is being carried out by the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) to head off flight disruptions normally caused by harmattan and other weather hassles.
Instrument Landing Systems (ILSs), Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON), and Safe Tower facilities are getting new equipment worth N36 billion.
TRACON, which cost €66.5 million and was inaugurated in 2010, was a subject of conflict between NAMA and its foreign contractor, Thales of France.
The equipment was starved of spares, forcing it to temporarily shut down. However, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in February 2022 awarded N28 billion for its upgrade and those of towers at four major airports.
Acting NAMA Managing Director Matthew Pwajok said TRACON upgrade would cost N23 billion and refurbishing of towers N13 billion, adding TRACON has been kept functional since Thales abandoned it in 2017.
“I am sure Thales never believed we would keep the system functional without them. Remember, we were paying millions of Euros to support the services agreement but that has been saved. A lot of money has been saved in the form of maintenance in-house,” he stressed.
Apart from N17 billion for systems upgrade, N5 billion is for Very Small Aperture Terminal (V-SAT) which connects the nine individual radars in their locations.
“It is a project worth N23 billion for software and hardware upgrade, provision of maintenance for nine radars covering the entire country.
“The nine standalone radars connected by V-SAT are in Lagos, Kano, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Maiduguri, Ilorin, Talata-Mafara, Obubra and Numan.”
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Radar working optimally
“I find it surprising when people doubt that the radar is working optimally. The system has been optimal and it is verifiable. If you land at Lagos, you see first and foremost the radar antenna rotating,” Pwajok added, according to The Guardian.
“That antenna rotates 24/7, and 365 days every year. If the radar is down, the pilots would know as they will go procedural and approach is longer.
“I can tell you that with this radar, we can see aircraft over Accra, over Cotonou; Lome, Naimey, N’djamena, Douala, over Yaoundé; Equatorial Guinea, and Malabo. It is a total radar coverage and it is functional.”
Pwajok said ILSs has been upgraded at airports nationwide, with 10 getting new Category II ILSs and another 10 equipped with Doppler Very high-frequency omnidirectional radio-range (DVOR).
The new navigational systems provide airlines with access to shorter routes across networks to save fuel and operating costs, he added.
Acting NAMA Director of Operations Jubril Haske added the agency has recently invested millions of dollars in navigational equipment at all airports and it is now left to airlines to utilise them optimally.
He said there are new ILSs for safe landing in poor visibility coupled with standard shorter routes.