- NAMA scales ICPC anti-corruption hurdle, scores 76.7% ACTU effectiveness index
- Najomo hinges Nigeria’s aviation future on transparent procurement system
- MMA2: A Beacon of Hope for Nigerian Airports
- Airline group raises concern over South Africa’s aviation infrastructure
- Turkish Airlines opens largest Int’l lounge at Tokyo Narita Airport
AIS automation: All motion, no movement

Since 1998, it has been more of rhetoric than actualisation of yet-to-be-completed Aeronautical Information Service (AIS) automation. WOLE SHADARE writes that the project may end up as another white elephant project
Time factor
Today, we live in a world in constant motion where time and information are becoming more precious. No one wants to lose a minute at doing nothing. It is by integrating this reality that the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is developing daily, the critical role of AIS to meet global challenges.
The objective of the AIS is to ensure the flow of information necessary for the safety, regularity and efficiency of international air navigation. When completed, it will enhance air to ground and ground to ground information and boost interconnectivity between aircraft and air traffic controllers.
The AIS is installed in 11 locations and is planned to go on stream at the end of the year but would connect every part of the country by the end of 2017.
To achieve success, all the key agencies or data originators including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Nigerian Air Force, etc would need to enhance their data collation, origination, processing, storage and exchange system.
The deliverables
Other deliverables, according to the NAMA boss, would include the enhancement of e-NOTAM, e-Flight Planning, e-AIP, e-TOD, e-Charts, e-Flight briefing and also boost capacity for voice and data communication for both air to ground and ground to ground communication. ICAO Annex 15 states that the AIS shall use automated pre-flight information systems to specify that pre-flight information must be made available at each aerodrome /or heliport normally used for international operations.
This includes all aerodromes/ or heliports designated for regular use by international commercial air transport as listed in the relevant ICAO regional plans and any aerodromes/ or heliports serving as alternates to these regular aerodromes/heliports.
The challenge
The greatest challenge now lie with the NAMA, the NCAA, aviation institutions especially, the NCAT to accelerate the rate of AIS development to keep abreast of the new requirement arising from global demands as Nigeria cannot afford to continue to queue behind surrounding smaller African countries.
Stagnation
Nigeria has over the years remained stagnant with the automation of AIS. While Nigeria has remained stuck in the same position, many have or are moving towards Aeronautical Information Management (AIM).
The aeronautical information/data based on paper documentation and telex-based text messages cannot satisfy anymore the requirements of the ATM integrated and interoperable system and therefore the AIS is required to evolve from the paper product-centric service to the data-centric aeronautical information management (AIM) with a different method of information provision and management.
For that purpose, ICAO has developed a roadmap to reflect the importance of the evolution and to address the required changes and is being referred to as the transition from AIS to AIM.
The roadmap identifies the major milestones recommended for a uniform evolution across all regions of the world, the specific steps that need to be achieved and timelines for implementation.
The transition to AIM will not involve many changes in terms of the scope of information to be distributed. The major change will be the increased emphasis on data distribution, which should place the future AIM in a position to better serve airspace users and ATM in terms of their information management requirements.
It would be recalled that the global aviation regulatory body, ICAO had since 1998 sensitised all contracting state on the need for the services of AIS to be automated. Ever since 1998 in Nigeria, it has been more of hearing and reading on the pages of newspapers of AIS automation and it yet to be completed.
Little progress
In the last five years, a lot of progress had been made in this regard. Before now, fund had been the recurrent impediment of this project. However, since 2016, the story has changed. Immediate past President of Aeronautical Information Management Association of Nigeria (AIMAN), Mr. Shittu Babatunde, stated at the just concluded delegate conference/World AIS Day Celebration held in Ibadan, Oyo State last weekend that he was at a seminar in 2015 where he said they were told not to expect the completion of the project even in 2017.
His words, “That has come to pass. At the user’s end of AIS nationwide, the effect of the project is yet to be seen in our day-to-day operations. While we appreciate the progress so far made by the Ministry, NCAA and NAMA management in this regard, I appeal to once again the Federal Government to see that this project does not become an elephant project”. Not a few are impressed. The international world is not going to wait for the country.
The world is now transiting to System Wide Information Management (swim). November 2015 was the deadline for contracting states to implement Electronic Terrain and Obstacle Data (ETOD), which is far more expensive than the automation and Nigeria is yet to start this.
A must-do for NAMA
Managing Director of NAMA, Capt. Fola Akinkuotu reiterated that the agency is aware of the critical deliverables of the Aeronautical Information Management (AIM) project such as the enhancement of e-NOTAM, eFlight Planning, e-AIP, e-TOD, e-Charts, e-Flight briefing and so on.
He said given that the digitalisation represents migration to a dynamic data-oriented aeronautical information management system that facilitates the real-time exchange of aeronautical information in an accurate and standardised format from anywhere to everywhere globally, “the automation project is a must-do for NAMA.”
He said notwithstanding the scarce resources, NAMA would leave no stone unturned to ensure that the AIS Automation process remained on course and completed. The NAMA helmsman lauded staff of the AIS department for their diligence, hard work and dedication to duty.
Last line
AIS remain one of the most critical departments in the agency even though they are hardly given the prominence they deserve, because their job most often, is behind-the-scene. The absence of AIS in the system will bring about chaos in the entire civil aviation.
Google+