The Managing Director, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, Mr.
Nnamdi Udoh, on Monday said that over 500 flights passed through the
nation’s airspace daily.
Nnamdi, who spoke at a news conference in Lagos, however, said that
the figure did not include overflying flights, which do not land in
Nigerian airports.
According to him, air traffic has increased astronomically in recent
years, adding that the situation has forced the agency to embark on
critical projects to boost the capacity of its navigational facilities.
He said the development also informed why the agency recently started
the process of decongesting the Lagos Area Control Centre of the
airspace.
He said, “With growing traffic, especially at peak period, the main
Lagos Aerial Control Centre frequency, 127.3MHz, had become congested
with attendant challenges posed to pilots. The agency in her typical
manner commenced the process of categorising the Lagos ACC. And based on
the project timeline of December 17, 2012, the Lagos ACC would have
been categorising.”
He added, “I want to use this opportunity to reassure Nigerians that
our airspace is safe. To address some of the challenges we had in the
past, the agency embarked on many critical projects to reposition and
strength the navigational facilities in the airspace.”
Udoh explained that a team of air traffic controllers and engineers
was already working on the technical and operational implementation of
the categorisation.
The Director of Operations, Mr. Mukaila Solola, said NAMA had taken
major steps to address radio communication challenges facing the
airspace, adding that currently, only Nigeria could boast of having the
Performance Based Navigation system in Africa.
PBN is a shift from ground based-navigation to satellite-based.
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