Aircraft Operations In Nigeria Increase By 12.8%

Aircraft movement in Nigeria’s airspace has increased by
12.8 per cent from January to June 2012 over the same period last year.

Also, revenue from over-flyers (aircraft that pass through
the nation’s airspace to other destinations) has increased by five per cent.

The Managing Director of Nigeria Airspace Management Agency
(NAMA), Nnamdi Udoh said that this development was attributable to the Total
Radar coverage of Nigeria (TRACON).

He also stated that the agency had invested huge resources
in providing adequate communication for Nigeria’s airspace which was very
necessary for air-to-ground and ground-to-air communication with pilots flying
to various destinations.

He said that NAMA had spent substantial funds on VHF project
that would provide total radio coverage of Nigeria to ensure that every part of
the nation’s airspace was covered by communication so that pilots could talk
with Air Traffic Controllers anywhere in Nigeria.

“The project is presently on a test run and once fully
activated it will enhance redundancy in all areas of controller/controllers
communication in any part of Nigerian airspace”, he said.

The NAMA boss also mentioned that the agency had recently
completed the world Geodetic Survey project that would give fillip to the full
implementation of performance –based navigation.

He expressed confidence in the safety of the Nigerian
airspace, saying that “in spite of security and power challenges in most of our
installations, NAMA has continued to provide services for the expeditious
movement of all aircraft to our airspace”.

“In the last five years and in the first six months of this
year, many airlines have started operating into the country because of the
safety of the airspace  and other areas
of transport in the country, which include Continental, Delta, Turkish, Etihad
and lately Rwanda”, he added.

Stories by Reward Akwu