Lagos airport to get tele-conference centreNAMA calibrates navigation toolsTHE Federal Government is set to restructure the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in a bid to create two offices for Deputy Directors-General Flight Safety Group (FSG) and another to oversee infrastructure provided by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET).The government is expected to study this proposal as put down by Director-General, NCAA, Harold Demuren, before he completes his first term of five years in office next year.Although, it remains unclear if the government would reappoint him for a second term, Demuren told The Guardian that his proposal was the logical thing to do in future for the growth of the aviation industry.Also, the NCAA has concluded plans to install a state-of-the-art Tele Conference Communication Centre in Lagos.When completed, the NCAA would be the the first civil aviation authority in Africa to attain the feat.Spokesman for the authority, Sam Adurogboye, who confirmed the development, declined to give details on the project but said it might be launched next month.In another development, NAMA has started flight calibration of navigational equipment at airports and en-route stations across the country to enhance air safety.The calibration exercise, which was flagged off at the Port-Harcourt International Airport, is being handled by ASECNA, a Dakar, Senegal-based based calibration firm.Equipment to be calibrated include the recently commissioned secondary and primary radar systems at Kano and Port Harcourt International airports as well as the TRACON relay stations in Obubura, Maiduguri, Numan, Ilorin and Talata Mafara.Other navigational aid scheduled for calibration are: Conventional Omni-Directional Radio Frequency (CVOR) Instrument Landing System (ILS), Distance Measuring Equipment (DME), and Very High Omni-Directional Radio Frequency (VOR) all located in Lagos, Kaduna, Katsina, Sokoto, Gombe, Jos, Gboko, Abuja, Calabar, Owerri, Imo State, Kishi, Oyo State and Asaba, Delta State.Managing Director, NAMA, Ibrahim Usman Auyo, explained that the calibration exercise would assist in putting all the navigational aid in proper shape at these airports and en-route stations.He disclosed that NAMA spends about N200 million yearly to calibrate navigational aids at 22 airports across the country. The exercise is expected to last for two weeks.The NAMA chief appealed to airlines to support the Agency in its safety drive by paying up their debts.Demuren said: The job of NCAA is very enormous. Not everybody in life can do all the things all the time. In future, we may have two or three deputy DGs in NCAAone for Flight Safety Group (FSG) and one for Infrastructure, which will handle FAAN, NAMA, NIMET.They are big infrastructure. FAAN alone is bigall the airports, all the airstrips, all the air navigational systems. The third one should be economic regulation of the industry, thats air transport. In future thats how this industry would operate.Demure also disclosed that one of the reasons why airports in Nigeria were yet to be certified was their lack of perimeter fencing.However, he said the first airport that might get the certification could be the one in Abuja, which inner perimeter fence is almost completed.The NCAA chief stressed that the country must sustain the recently acquired U.S. aviation Category One safety status.
Click here to read full news..
