Yemisi Izuora
The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), has commenced 24 hours en-route radar service to airspace users at both the Kano and Lagos Area Control Centres (ACCs).
The area radar service which hitherto was only available between Mondays and Fridays from 7am to 7pm has now been extended to 24hrs daily and seven days a week.
Speaking on the development, the Managing Director, Engr. Ibrahim Abdulsalam said ‘’this feat became feasible following an aggressive manpower training by the agency to boost capacity of safety critical Air Traffic Control and Engineering personnel required to provide the service,’’ stressing that “with this development we have further enhanced safety and efficiency in air traffic management because the use of radar increases capacity to maximize utilization of available airspace with precision, accuracy and less workload to the Air Traffic Controllers and flight crew while also enabling aircraft to fly at optimum trajectories.”
Abdulsalam noted that the non-stop provision of area radar service is in line with the ongoing digitalization of the Nigerian airspace by the agency,and expressed confidence that flight times would be further reduced due to direct routing, translating to reduced fuel consumption by the airlines.
He said that round-the-clock radar surveillance would give a boost to the nation’s preparedness in search and rescue operations.
NAMA had on the 30th of May 2013 successfully commenced the provision of area radar control service within the Nigerian airspace, enabling the agency to seamlessly manage en-route flights digitally with efficiency and exactitude.