The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NAMA

  • NAMA begins calibration of Navaids

    The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has begun calibration of navigational equipment at some airports and en route stations to enhance air safety.

    Its Managing Director Mr Nnamdi Udoh, said the agency spends about N200million yearly to calibrate navigational aids at the 26 airports.

    Calibration means the flight checking of navigational equipment to ascertain their accuracy and efficiency.

    The exercise, Udoh said, would last for 14 days, explaining that the calibration of the navaids would assist in putting the aids in proper shape at these airports and en-route stations.

    Udoh appealed to airlines to support the agency in its safety drive by clearing their outstanding debts.

    The calibration, which kicked off in Lagos with the routine calibration of the two Instrument Landing Systems (ILS), Very High Omni-directional Radio Range/Distance Measuring Equipment (VOR/DME) and the Path Approach Precision Indicator (PAPI) of the airport.

    Equipment being calibrated include- the recently installed ILS/DME,CVOR/DME at Enugu airport,Makurdi and Kanji.

    The newly installed air field lighting system at Makurdi will equally be flight- checked by Flight Calibration Services of the United Kingdom using DA42 multi-purpose platform aircraft.

    Other navigational aids being calibrated are Conventional Omni-Directional Radio Frequency (CVOR), Instrument Landing System (ILS), Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) Very High Omni-Directional Radio Frequency (VOR) all located in ,Uyo Abuja, Kano and Portharcourt.

    Similarly ,Communication radio coverage check for Lagos and Kano area control centres will be undertaken during the calibration exercise.

  • NAMA chief harps on quality service

    The Managing Director Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Nnamdi Udoh, has urged Servicom officers in the industry to ensure quality in service delivery to airlines and the passengers.

    He spoke in Lagos during the quarterly Servicom networking meeting of all agencies in the Ministry of Aviation.

    Udoh, who lauded the recently introduced passengers’ Bill of Rights by the regulatory agency – the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), frowned on the shoddy handling of passengers by the airlines in terms of late departures and cancellations of flights at the airports and charged the industry Servicom team to brace up to the challenge.

    He said NAMA has already keyed into the Zero Complain principle where the ‘customer is the focal point of the agency’s operations’.

    The Chief Servicom Officer in the Presidency, Ms. Nnenna Akajemeli, noted the meeting was essentially critical, adding that it would yield results.

    She explained that Servicom officers in the various agencies have an onerous duty of not only reminding staff about their service obligation to the customer, but must also ensure that people do their jobs right, compliant with the service charter whose bottom line is that high service standards are met.

    She also charged desk officers to work proactively, especially in an industry like aviation which is essentially service driven.

    The General Manager, Servicom, NAMA, Mrs. Adejoju Lewis, said continuous service delivery has become a moving target in positioning NAMA as an excellent sole service provider of air navigation in the ever dynamic global aviation industry.

    Also speaking, the Servicom Nodal Officer in the Ministry of Aviation, Mr. Sulola Johnson, charged Servicom officers to ensure that services are delivered promptly and satisfactorily, saying that desk officers should take up the challenge of re-orientating staff members to know that the customer has the right to be served well.

  • FAAN, NAMA excited over Enugu Airport

    The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), have said the opening of the Akanu Ibiam Airport, Enugu for international flights will open a window to earn more foreign revenue.

    FAAN’s Managing Director, George Uriesi and his NAMA counterpart Nnamdi Udoh spoke on the sidelines during the inaugural flight of Ethiopian Airlines into Enugu Airport.

    Uriesi said FAAN was excited over the development, noting that is a money spinner for his agency.

    He said the authority would put facilities in place to attract more foreign airlines, describing Enugu Airport as one strategically located to serve the Southeast.

    Many agencies, including Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service and others, he said, had opened offices at the Enugu Airport to serve the anticipated passengers and cargoes into the airport.

    Uriesi said: ”The first thing we have done to make Enugu Airport attractive for airlines is to build the infrastructure to bring the airport to an international standard. The first flight out of here was fully booked. Now the airport is attracting more traffic, and once the airline puts its acts together, that would make it easy for FAAN to earn more money.

    “We have expanded the runway from 2.6 to 3.1 kilometres and we are providing the same level of security as you have in other airports.

    “We are building the infrastructure to accommodate daily international flights out if this airport. We have started collecting passenger service charge, that is a lot more revenue for FAAN. It is going on very well,” he said, adding that the international terminal would be completed in 2015.

    Udoh noted that the airport’s opening was a blessing, saying: ”This is a good opportunity for NAMA to earn additional revenue from the ticket sales charge that we share with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). This would give us more revenue in navigation service charge and provide more funds.”

    On the safety, Udoh said: ”The airport and airspace are safe. We are going ahead after the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) endorsement to do our own calibration. Many airlines would come to Enugu and that would give more revenue to the aviation agencies.“

    He said the automation of the aeronautical information system was about over 70 per cent completed.

    At least 96 of its Aeronautical Information Service (AIS), personnel, he said, were on training at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT).

    This, he added, was part of the efforts to beef up capacity and manpower preparatory to the imminent take-off of AIS automation in November.

    ICAO has set November 15, this year as deadline for the implementation of AIS automation worldwide while the project in Nigeria has reached an advanced stage of completion.

    AIS automation when in operation, he said, would enhance air safety with pilots sending their aeronautical messages online and this would reduce excessive telephone conversation between pilots and air traffic controllers.

    The airports to benefit from the project include Lagos Kano, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ilorin, Jos, Sokoto, Maiduguri, Owerri and Yola. Others are Zaria, Calabar, Osubi, Minna, Kadunna, Enugu, Katsina, Ibadan, Benin, Akure, Bebi, Bonny, Eket, and Escravos.

     

  • NAMA to deploy multi-lateral surveillance system in Niger Delta

    THE Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) plans to deploy multilateration surveillance system for helicopter operations in the Niger Delta, the Managing Director of the agency, Nnamdi Udoh, has said.

    He disclosed this in Lagos at a stakeholders’meeting to address the improved safety plan for low level flying traffic in the Delta region.

    He told the forum made up of aviation operators in the oil and gas sector that the deployment of the new surveillance system by the Federal Government would improve security and air safety in the area.

    Udoh said the Federal Government provided the capital for the execution of the project, adding that commitment has made it possible for the agency to fast-track its implementation for the benefit of the stakeholders .

    In his presentation, David Brocklebank of Saab Sensis, United Kingdom, said airspace capacity utilisation would require an appropriate technology, pointing out that deployment of multi-lateration surveillance in the Niger Delta area would capture the activities of the low flying aircraft.

    He recalled the effective deployment of the system in the North Sea in 2010, saying the new technology would deliver a safe, high integrity, scalable solution and transfer technology of engineering and project management skills to Nigeria.

    Meanwhile, the Director, General Aviation, Nigeria Civil Aviation Technology (NCAA) Dele Sasegbon has expressed delight on this development.

    He appreciated the contributions of the stakeholders at the meeting, saying: ‘’The impression we are having here now is to have the system deployed immediately.”

    Last March, NAMA received a preliminary survey report on the multilateration surveillance system for helicopter operations in the region.

    The survey became necessary to discover the weather, volume of traffic and type of intervention to be provided by the agency, especially given the strategic nature of the area and the large scale exploration activities in that area.

     

  • NAMA plans multilateration in Niger Delta

    The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) said yesterday that it will deploy multilateration surveillance system for helicopter operations in the Niger Delta within the next 12 months.

    Multilateration is one of the latest air navigation systems for air traffic management in the world.

    The Managing Director, Nnamdi Udoh, made this known in Lagos at a stakeholders’ meeting.

    He told the forum, made up of aviation operators in the oil and gas sector, that the deployment of the new surveillance system by the Federal Government would improve security and air safety in the area.

    Udoh said the Federal Government had already provided the capital for the execution of the project and made it expeditious for the agency to fast track its implementation for the benefit of the stakeholders.

  • NAMA sets N22b IGR target

    NAMA sets N22b IGR target

    The Nigeria Airspace Management Authority (NAMA) plans to increase its internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to N 22billion before the end of the year.

    Its Managing Director Nnamdi Udoh said the airspace agency spent at least N500million of its IGR on training and retraining of its staff in the country and abroad.

    He said: “Let me say generally in a year, we expend about N500milion on training of our personnel; Air traffic controllers , engineers, human resources personnel , finance officers and all that, but we hope we can increase it.

    “By April, this year, we have had nine per cent increase on volume of traffic and five per cent increase on revenue and those are statistics as at that time. This year, we are looking at the balance sheet of N20 to N22 billion to increase from the N14 billion we achieved in 2012.

    “The money is not going to come from my pockets, but from those who are flying our airspace and, therefore, I will not say the Nigerian airspace is being avoided as some are saying.”

    Udoh also said plans are underway by the management to make NAMA a self-sustaining body by 2015, maintaining that the challenges of the government were enormous.

    “First, NAMA is a self-sustaining agency, but the government has always provided infrastructural and technical supports, which they are alarming us that they need to put more money on schools, hospitals and they are saying we should try to survive on our own. That is why we are developing new initiatives to support my revenues and that is business.”

    He denied the rumoured ‘plan’ by the Federal Government to ground most private jet operators in the country, maintaining that private jet operators are NAMA’s major clients in the industry.

    He said for agency to meets its set goals, it would have to embrace private jet owners in the country.

    “Nobody is saying they should not carry whosoever they want to carry on their jets, but what we are saying is that if you must carry other people on that your private jet, you must have a corresponding insurance policy covering the passengers onboard, which means there must be a comprehensive insurance to cover those people onboard,” he said.The Nigeria Airspace Man

    agement Authority (NAMA)

    plans to increase its internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to N 22billion before the end of the year.

    Its Managing Director Nnamdi Udoh said the airspace agency spent at least N500million of its IGR on training and retraining of its staff in the country and abroad.

    He said: “Let me say generally in a year, we expend about N500milion on training of our personnel; Air traffic controllers , engineers, human resources personnel , finance officers and all that, but we hope we can increase it.

    “By April, this year, we have had nine per cent increase on volume of traffic and five per cent increase on revenue and those are statistics as at that time. This year, we are looking at the balance sheet of N20 to N22 billion to increase from the N14 billion we achieved in 2012.

    “The money is not going to come from my pockets, but from those who are flying our airspace and, therefore, I will not say the Nigerian airspace is being avoided as some are saying.”

    Udoh also said plans are underway by the management to make NAMA a self-sustaining body by 2015, maintaining that the challenges of the government were enormous.

    “First, NAMA is a self-sustaining agency, but the government has always provided infrastructural and technical supports, which they are alarming us that they need to put more money on schools, hospitals and they are saying we should try to survive on our own. That is why we are developing new initiatives to support my revenues and that is business.”

    He denied the rumoured ‘plan’ by the Federal Government to ground most private jet operators in the country, maintaining that private jet operators are NAMA’s major clients in the industry.

    He said for agency to meets its set goals, it would have to embrace private jet owners in the country.

    “Nobody is saying they should not carry whosoever they want to carry on their jets, but what we are saying is that if you must carry other people on that your private jet, you must have a corresponding insurance policy covering the passengers onboard, which means there must be a comprehensive insurance to cover those people onboard,” he said.

  • NAMA to dismantle illegal telecom masts

    NAMA to dismantle illegal telecom masts

    Pursuant to its drive to enhance air safety in the country, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), has given a four-week ultimatum to owners of telecommunication masts situated at several locations across the country to dismantle them or face sanctions from the agency.

    According to the agency General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr. Supo  Atobatele, the directive has become imperative following the inherent danger posed by these structures to air navigation in the country.

    Consequently, the agency has engaged the services of Seas Electrical and Computer Services Limited to effect the pulling down of affected structures at the expiration of the ultimatum.

    The firm, according to him, has been mandated not only to identify and report, but also to reduce height or dismantle the structures as applicable.

    Atobatele said:” NAMA Act section 7(1) c and d of its establishment Act no.48 of 1999 is empowered to “prohibit and regulate the installation of any structure which by virtue of its height or position is considered to endanger the safety of air navigation” and also “prevent interference with the use or effectiveness of all apparatus used in connection with air navigation.”

    “In accordance with the act, any person or organization intending to erect telecommunication masts, hoist balloons, construct hangars  or other high-rise structures within the Nigerian Airspace is required to obtain Aviation Height Clearance Certification/No Objection from NAMA before commencement.”

  • Fed Govt spends N15b on air navigation

    To enable the country meet global aviation standard, the Federal Government has invested over N15billion on air navigation infrastucture in the past four years.

    Part of the cash which went into training of critical personnel is to ensure safety of the Nigerian airspace, the Managing Director of Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Nnamdi Udoh, has said.

    He explained that the government has invested much in air navigation services infrastructure, as part of efforts to upgrade Nigeria into the global standard.

    He listed some of the projects to the airspace, total high frequency radio coverage, deployment of primary and secondary surveillance radar at major airports, and other locations.

    He said: “As far as NAMA is concerned, the Federal Government has been consistent in its drive of transforming the nation’s airspace into a world class air navigation services provider, with capital investment of more than N15 billion on various safety critical projects.”

    Key among these projects is the total radar coverage of Nigeria (TRACON), which was inaugurated in 2010 and has been operating at optimal level.

    The project has nine radar locations across the country, with four control radar locations in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano Each hasboth primary and secondary co-fixed radar head.

    He said there were five other stations in Ilorin, Maiduguri, Talata Mafara, Numan and Obubra, adding that the primary one has range of 65 nautical miles, while the secondary covers 250. The overlapping range enables the controllers to see flights beyond the shores of the country, he said.

    He explained that operational facilities, such as navaids have been upgraded to international standard, adding that the agency has concluded arrangement to instal a multi-lateration surveillance system in the Niger Delta Area to cover Helicopter activities of the oil companies.

    These installations, Udoh said, would enhance safety and boost the agency’s revenue.

    He said since May 30, this year, NAMA transited from procedural air traffic control, to area radar control to enhance quality service and traffic management for aircraft flying within and across the nation’s airspace.

    “To complement the operations of the radar, the Federal Government financed the N400 million Total Very high frequency Radio Coverage of Nigeria. This project has been completed and is in operation.

    ‘’In addition, the agency is procuring long range Very high frequency radio as complementary technology for enroute Air Traffic Control,” he said, adding that the airspace has improved in recent times, bringing about high quality service delivery in air traffic management.

    He said: ”Features of improvement include the completion of WGS-84 survey of 26 airports to prepare them for performance based navigation system. Procedures for the four major airports in Lagos, Abuja,Port Harcourt and Kano.Trials for Performance-based navigation were carried out last year by some airlines and the exercise was successful.

    The AIS automation is on course and the work on this has been encouraging.The completion of this project by this year would add significantly to the quality of air traffic services in the country and the sub region, he said.

  • Why aviation growth is slow, by NAMA chief

    The Managing Director of Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Nnamdi Udoh, has attributed the slow pace of growth of aviation in Africa to poor aerospace development, inadequate airport and airspace infrastructure.

    Udoh listed other challenges the industry is grappling with to include safety, security, inadequate human resources and poor budgetary provision.

    Speaking at a seminar in Lagos last weekend, he said until the government took seriously the role of infrastructure in airspace safety and security, the growth of the industry could be stunted.

    The areas that are critical for the development of the industry include a consistent plan by government to address issues bordering on airport management and security.

    He said: “The aviation sector continues to grapple with a myriad of challenges. Some of these challenges include: poor budgetary provision and funding of the industry, weak project matrix, due process and other procurement bottlenecks, change management failures, liquidation of national airlines as well as issues of privatisation.”

    He explained that if the industry must rescue itself from its slow pace of growth, government must resolve issues bordering on challenges of human resource.

    Udoh said if Nigeria aims to be among one of the developed aviation nations, government should consider a framework that would help to achieve safer skies.

     

     

     

  • Air crash rumour a hoax – NAMA

    Air crash rumour a hoax – NAMA

    The Nigeria Airspace Management Agency on Wednesday dispelled rumour making the round over a purported plane crash in Igando area of Lagos.

    The Managing Director of the agency, Engr. Nnamdi Udoh, explained the small disused aircraft found at a location in Lagos, is a junk acquired for educational purposes in Badagry area of the state.

    In a statement, Udoh said, “The attention of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has been drawn to a purported plane crash on Wednesday at Igando, a suburb in Lagos State.

    ‘’ This morning, we were inundated with phone calls and enquiries over a crash involving a small aircraft but there is nothing like that. It is a hoax because our system did not capture any missing plane.”

    Udoh said the American registered aircraft has a registration number N972TF.

    According to the NAMA boss, the aircraft in question is actually a junk one belonging to the late Apostle Gabriel Oduyemi of Bethel Ministries and had long been parked at a NAMA facility up till Wednesday night when it was eventually removed.

    He said,” The aircraft was actually released to Capt. M.J.Ekehinde who would be using it for educational purposes in Badagry, Lagos. A cross section of the wings was removed to ease transportation to its new location.

    “I affirm again that NAMA facilities are working at optimal level and this could have assisted in detecting any missing plane within the nation’s airspace.

    “While we appreciate the concern of the public on sighting the plane at an unusual site, we urge that people should always contact police and local government officials for proper information before spreading the news on incident involving any aircraft.”