The Nation Newspaper

Category: Aviation

  • NAAE wants more engineers licensed, trained

    Members of the National Association of Air Traffic Engineers (NAAE) have called for the training of its personnel in the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency NAMA to enable them get licensed.

    The President of the NAAE Engr Ishaya Dung while heralding the association’s Annual General Meeting said a large number of Air Traffic Engineers engineers in NAMA were yet to be licensed as a result of lack of training associated with paucity of funds.

    Engr Dung explained that as professionals, ATSEP licensing, rating of personnel and training remained their greatest challenge saying that they have not had enough training.

    According to Engr Dung, Air Traffic Safety Electronics Personnel (ATSEP) is an ICAO term for the technical staff involved with the creation and support of the ground-based electronic hardware and software systems used to support air navigation and Air Traffic Management.

    He noted that after training at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology Zaria, the engineers will be licensed by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority

    Though he revealed that some have been trained, Dung noted that more needed to be trained adding that they were over 400 NAAE members
    across the country with some getting licensed.

    Speaking on the choice of the 2018 theme ‘Aviation Safety – ATSEP Link, the NAAE boss said there was need for all the professional bodies in NAMA to work assiduously in order to achieve one goal of ensuring safety of the airspace adding that NAAE remained the bridge between Pilots and air traffic controllers.

    Engr Dung while commending the Management of NAMA for the provision of reliable and functional navigational aid in the country, urged the flying public to continue to have confidence in the system with the dependable surveillance equipment.

    “Our equipment is reliably, working well that is why we have successful take offs and landings virtually in all our airports but there might be a few challenge especially in the aspect of communication. But the government has done alot in the area of communication and it has improved on flights”

    According to the NAAE boss, the 2018 AGM of the association scheduled for 22nd November 2018 at the Airport Hotel will be attended by the minister of state for aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika as the Special Guest of Honour, Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode will play host, with various aviation parastatal heads gracing the occasion.

  • 116 Nigerians deported from Libya

    One hundred and sixteen Nigerians stranded in the North Africa country – Libya were Wednesday deported .

    The deportees comprising 46 adult females;  two female children ; five female infants as well as 56 male adults; six male children and eight male infants arrived the cargo wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, about 12.40 am.

    They were flown in aboard a chartered Al Buraq aircraft marked with registration number UZ 489.

    Acting Coordinator of National Emergency Management Agency ( NEMA) , South West , Segun Afolayan received the deportees at the airport .

    He said the deportees were stranded en route Europe and had to be brought home through the as dusted voluntary returnees programme facilitated by the International Organization for Migration ( IOM).

    While advising the Returnees to discourage irregular migration,  Afolayan stated that migration is a fundamental right of every human being but when a man embarks on irregular journey violating the laws of other nations by not following the regular means of migration, the country of destination may apply the nation’s laws to handle such.

    To end this exposure of  irregular migration, the Acting Zonal Coordinator revealed that Nigerians who wish to migrate can now visit the Migrant Resource Centre opened by IOM in conjunction with the Federal Government.

    The Centres located at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment offices at Benin, Lagos and Abuja.

    According to Afolayan “The Centres are opened to all Nigerians who wish to travel outside the country. They can access detailed information on their intended country of destination.”

    “Such information as the types of employment and educational opportunities, counseling on the right and safe routes to travel, the security level of the expected country as well as skill acquisition to whoever approach any of the centres in the country.”

    “This centres are created to stem the gaps of inadequate information that many Returnees have been complaining about”.

  • Agency seeks NCAA support to develop made-in-Nigeria helicopters

    The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) has solicited support from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to develop made-in-Nigeria helicopters.
    Prof. Muhammed Haruna,  Chief Executive Officer, NASENI, made the appeal on Wednesday in Lagos when he paid a courtesy visit to the Director General of the NCAA, Capt. Muhtar Usman.
    Haruna said NASENI had in the past manufactured an Agriculture Based Unmanned Area Vehicle (AB-UAV), tricycles commonly referred to as “Keke NASENI and the successful development of the “Gulma Drone ” in collaboration with the  Nigeria Air Force.
    He expressed confidence that the made-in-Nigeria helicopter project would be a success through the support of the NCAA and other stakeholders.
    Haruna said “Previously we have produced unmanned aerial vehicle. Our own version was commissioned by the Vice-President when there was technology expo in Abuja.
    “But we are not stopping there, research and development is continuing. What we are saying is that we want to copy other people’s technologies and to do this copying, we came here asking for guidance and support from NCAA.
     
    “It is our target and hope that before the end of 2019, our people should have mastered the art on how to do it. Research and Development is not one or two – day affair but we have facilities for reverse engineering.

    Read Also: NCAA de-registers 10 aircraft

     
    “In fact we have a centre which we call rapid prototyping centre. Any machine that you want to reproduce, we have facilities, advance manufacturing equipment for that matter on how to give us something fast but then aviation is a high safety and security industry that certain things, we must wait for certification from here before we proceed further.”
     
    He said the agency had selected Dynali Helicopter Manufacturing Company of Belgium as a willing partner to fast-track technology acquisition and domestication.
     
    Responding,  Usman said aviation was highly regulated, international in nature and also involves safety and security.
    “That is why the NASENI came today for us to partner and work to ensure that international standard and recommended practices are maintained because aviation is high precision industry, it involves safety and security.
     
    “In the area of unmanned aerial vehicle, it is a fast evolving technology worldwide, we have issued our advisory circulars on the registration and the use of such equipment and also we have gone very far, in fact we are almost concluding the regulations for the use of unmanned aerial vehicle.”
     
     
     

  • SAHCO renews handling contract with Arik Air

    Skyway Aviation Handling Company Public Liability Company (SAHCO) has renewed its ground handling contract with Arik Air.

    SAHCO Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Basil Agboarumi , disclosed this during the renewal of ground handling service agreement with Arik Air at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos on Monday.

    He promised to deliver quality and improved ground handling services to all its clientele across the nation’s airports especially as it acquires more state-of-the-art equipment for operations.

    Agboarumi disclosed that some new ground handling equipment of the company would in the next few weeks arrive the country, saying that this would further improve the quality of its service to its clients, including Arik Air.

    According to him, since the company was acquired by Sifax Group of Companies about nine years ago, the board had strived to improve the quality of services to its clients, stressing it would continue to grow its services especially as the company is enlisted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

    Read Also: Lawmakers visit Arik Air on fact-finding mission

    On the renewed agreement with Arik Air, Agboarumi emphasised that it portends endorsement and credibility on the services of the ground handling company. The agreement was renewed for another three years.

    He said: “Today is unique for SAHCO. The Initial Public Offering (IPO) for SAHCO begins today (Monday) and we are signing this contract with Arik Air. Arik Air has been with SAHCO for several years and we have witnessed the growth of the company over the years.

    “We are happy that the new management has established the airline on the right path. Arik Air is a good company to do business with. We are very proud to associate with the airline. Wherever Arik Air is mentioned, we will stand up for you. We have new equipment coming in. Some of them are on the high seas, while others are with us here already in the country.

    “We have warehouses in Port Harcourt, Kano, Lagos and Abuja and we are ready to build warehouses wherever they are needed. You have to understand that we are business people. If there is need for business expansion to any airport in the country, we will not hesitate to do that. Not just in Enugu, but across Nigeria. As long as business is expanding to those sides, you will see SAHCO there.

    “You will understand that we are the only ground handling company that operates in all commercially operated airports in Nigeria. So, when it comes to warehouses and we are sure that it will be utilized to the fullest capacity, we will be there.”

  • Operators to govt: fix faulty radios at airports

    Members of National Air Traffic Communicators Association of Nigeria (NACAN) have called on the Federal Government to, as a matter of urgency, fix malfunctioning  radio equipment at some airports across the country.

    They said the epileptic state of radio communication at some airports was making it difficult for pilots to communicate with some aeronautical stations at certain times of the day.

    Speaking in Lagos last weekend, NACAN,  President, Nkambo George, said this members were left with no choice but to communicate with telephones, which ought to be a back up and not primary source.

    Read also: Four new airports ‘ll sustain economic growth, says Buhari

    “We resorted to telephone, using our close user group telephone lines, which ought to be back up. It’s more or less the major equipment we are using now in most communication centres except for Lagos, Kano, Abuja and Port Harcourt, where the system  is still functional,” George said

    According to NACAN boss, the southern network with high frequency radios deployed as stop gap to assist high frequency modules from frequency to frequency, is causing  delay in messages on account of the epileptic network.

    He said: “Normally messages are not supposed to be delayed, when you receive a message, it ought to go. International Civil Aviation Organisation recommends that aeronautical telecommunications messages should be sent out between three and five minutes of receipt. So, you receive a backlog of messages in some centres as a result of equipment malfunction.”

    On manpower, Comrade Nkambo said the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) management  has stepped up efforts in the training of its personnel, urging it to improve on its human capital development.

    Nkambo said about 40 of its members were undergoing training at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) in Zaria while 16 graduated about two months ago. He, however, noted  that 28 were yet to be trained.

    According to Nkambo, the airspace agency needs to take proactive steps in handling ageing workforce as  new communications personnel have not been engaged  in the department in the past two decades.

    With serious implications for the agency, he said the government needs to embark on recruitment of between 20 to 50 communications personnel every year to fill existing gaps.

    Nkambo disclosed that with 27 communications personnel retiring next January from NAMA, the agency will be adversely affected as newly recruited personnel do not have sufficient experience.

    On his plans for NACAN in the next three years, the president revealed that the association will diversify, noting that there were some big stations where Hajj operations took place such as Bauchi, Kebbi, Jalingo and Dutse airports without the communicators department.

    He spoke of plans to deploy equipment in the affected areas.

    In a swift reaction, a representative of NAMA Managing Director, Captain Fola Akinkuotu, at a NACAN conference in Benin City, Ayodele Otitolaye said the provision of relevant technology was important for professionals to perform their roles.

    Otitolaye said NAMA will continue to provide modern facilities required to perform the task of Air navigational services.

    According to him, the issue of inadequate manpower due to aging workforce was being addressed gradually across all sections of the agency.

  • SAHCOL manufactures ground support equipment

    Skyway Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL)  engineering team has built a  fuel bowser  at the firm’s  engineering and maintenance workshop in Lagos.

    The ground support equipment is used for loading aviation fuel into aircraft on airport tarmacs.

    SAHCOL’s spokesperson, Vanessa Uansohia, disclosed this at the weekend.

    She said SAHCOL was the first firm in the history of aviation ground handling in Nigeria to create such facility from locally sourced materials.

    The idea to create the equipment, she added, was conceived by the engineering team of SAHCOL to provide local content in equipment manufacture in the aviation and allied sector.

    Before the manufacture of the fuel bowser, the firm purchased it and other aviation handling and ground support equipment from companies in Europe and other western countries.

    She said with the locally produced fuel bowser, SAHCOL has overcome the problem of waiting incessantly for ground support equipment to be shipped to Nigeria and the challenges of clearance by authorities at the seaports.

    She said: ” The production of the equipment is aimed at leading to higher efficiency of safe and fast service delivery, which is what SAHCOL stands for.

    “The 3,000-litre  capacity equipment can be operated both manually and with battery.

    “The equipment, which is tow-able has all the features of an imported fuel bowser with modifications to fit the Nigerian terrain. The bowser is designed to be both rugged and comfortable for use by the handlers to dispense rapid fueling in a safe and spillage free manner.”

    The SAHCOL spokesperson said: ”Another reason is that the construction of this bowser has saved the company the cost of sourcing for foreign currency to purchase imported equipment.

    “As much as the tow fuel bowser is an equipment that is overlooked as not been as important as other heavy duty ground support equipment, it is of great significance for a hitch free refueling of ground support equipment  on the ramp.”

  • NAHCO gets new chairman

    The Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc (NAHCO  aviance) said it has  appointed  Mr. Sehinde Fadeni Oladapo as its Chairman, Board of Directors. Oladapo takes over from Arc Usman Arabi Bello, who resigned from the position last October 25.

    In a notice sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, (NSE), the company said the appointment of  Oladapo, who is the founder and Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of GMT Energy Resources Limited, took effect since October 25, 2018.

    The new NAHCO  chairman is a recipient of several merit awards. Oladapo is highly acclaimed by professional bodies in Nigeria in recognition of his many contributions to nation building.

    He sits on the boards of a number of companies, including MCI FZE Yard Development Limited, a joint venture between MCI FZE and Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria, where Total Upstream Nigeria Limited and her partners.

    NAHCO also announced Mr. Salam Taofeeq Oluwatoyin as Non-Executive Director, replacing Mr. Ahmed T. Uwais, who vacated the board.

    Oluwatoyin is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), International Bar Association, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK) and Institute of Directors (IOD). He serves as the Managing Partner of Canary Legal, a corporate and commercial law firm. He leads the firm’s corporate governance, company secretarial and legal advisory practice group, advising clients locally and internationally on Foreign Investment, Project Financing and Public-Private Partnerships (PPP).

    He was at Rosehill Group Limited, a diversified investment Holding Company with interests in Infrastructure, Aviation, Real Estate, Hospitality, and Construction, as the Head of Legal and Compliance Department and subsequently rose to become the Managing Director of Rosehill Group Limited.

  • Qatar Airways cargo rolls out automated mail system

    Qatar Airways Cargo has rolled out an automated mail management system in more than 50 stations across its global network, making it the first in the industry to introduce this major enhancement to its business.

    The cargo carrier has also signed an agreement with leading logistics solutions-provider, Descartes, and integrated its Descartes vMail solution with its in-house cargo management information system, Cargo Reservations, Operations, Accounting and Management Information Systems (CROAMIS) for electronic data interchange messaging.

    Qatar Airways Chief Officer Cargo, Mr. Guillaume Halleux, said: “The roll out of the automated mail management system across several destinations in our network will immensely benefit our customers and the flourishing e-commerce business. Our dedicated teams have been working hard for months to ensure the seamless integration and interface between the two data-heavy systems, Descartes vMail and our in-house CROAMIS system.”

  • ‘Nigeria needs additional 700 air traffic controllers’

    The Nigerian Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) has said it needs additional 700 air  traffic controllers to boost its operations in the country’s airspace.

    NATCA has about 400 members manning various control towers in airports across the country.

    Its national president, Comrade Victor Eyaru, who disclosed this in Lagos, said the body was set  to  host the 59th International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers Association, Africa & Middle East region meeting/workshop in Abuja this week .

    He  said the additional 700 air traffic controllers will boost  the group’s operations work. He called on the government to begin the employment of at least  between 50 and 100 controllers annually to ensure that there is no vacuum created as a result of aging workforce in the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency

    NATCA President, while commending NAMA engineers for keeping the radars working, urged the government to source for spare parts for radar in the country to ensure that controllers do not go back to procedural air traffic control. Procedural air traffic control is the manual separation of aircraft in the airspace.

    He said  Nigeria must step up its game by ensuring that additional radar/Automated Data Surveillance Broadcast equipment are installed at airports to ease the pressure air traffic controllers go through working with the procedural system.

    Eyaru said about 300 delegates are expected to join 50  NATCA  members in the country to participate in the conference to chart the way in achieving seamless friendly skies.

    Eyaru said the conference will save aviation parastatals foreign exchange as over 50 air traffic controllers will have the opportunity to be trained during the conference.

    The last conference  held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,  last year. It  is the second time Nigeria is hosting the conference after its first in 2001.

     

  • SAHCO launches IPO to raise N406 million

    Skyways Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO) Plc on Monday launched an initial public offer for sale of N406, 074, 000 with effect from November 12, 2018.

    This is just as the firm said its shareholders have concluded plans to divest 49 per cent equity to the public in line with the share purchase agreement it signed with the Bureau of Public Enterprises ( BPE) many years ago when the firm was privatized.

    At the signing ceremony witnessed by the Director-General of Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Alex Okoh, its shareholders and other stakeholders, the company said is offering an ordinary share of 50 kobo each at N4.65 per share payable in full.

    Chairman of the company, Mr. Taiwo Afolabi said based on the terms of the executed Share Sale and Purchase Agreement (SSPA) in respect of the privatization, the shareholders of the company were obligated to divest 49 per cent equity stake in SAHCO to the Public.

    However, 10 per cent of the shares to be divested would be sold to the staff of the company.

    The chairman explained that the current shareholders would divest N406m ordinary shares of 50 kobo each representing 30 per cent of the entire issued and fully paid up Ordinary Shares in compliance with the terms of the SSPA.

    He said the company got the approval of BPE for a phased divestment in view of the current market conditions, adding, there are plans to divest the balance of 19 per cent equity stake at a future date.

    “SAHCO future strategy is to create long term shareholder value through the profitable operation and expansion of its business beyond Nigeria and into other West African markets with a vision to become the leading provider of passenger, ramp and cargo handling services in the West Africa sub-region”, he said.

    DG of BPE, Mr. Alex Okon recalled that SAHCO was privatized as part of the Federal Government’s enterprise reform agenda aimed at managing the privatized companies for efficiency and enhanced profitability.

    According to him, the SIFAX Group was required to offer certain percentage to the public to change the perspective that the assets were sold to cronies and friends of government.

    Also speaking Managing Director of SAHCO, Basil Agboarumi said the firm will put to judicious use proceeds from the funds injection to enable SAHCO remain a market leader in cargo , ramp and passenger handling services.

    He said the 10 per cent of the shares to be sold to the workers will generate proceeds that will be used to cater to the need of its personnel.