NAMA says navigational aids serviceable, periodically maintained

The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has dismissed claims that its navigational aids are unfit or poorly maintained for Harmattan operations.

The agency, in a statement by the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Dr Abdullahi Musa, disclosed that all navigational aids at all Federal Government airports are routinely maintained, flight-checked and calibrated in strict compliance with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig CARs).

Musa further stated that equipment such as Instrument Landing Systems (ILS), VHF Omnidirectional Range (VOR), Distance Measuring Equipment (DME), and other CNS/ATM infrastructure undergo periodic ground and airborne verification to ensure operational accuracy, signal integrity, and safety reliability.

All such activities, he said, are conducted under continuous regulatory oversight by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), which audits compliance, validates calibration cycles, and enforces corrective actions as necessary.

In line with global best practices, NAMA, he reiterated, does not operate in opacity, adding that the status of navigational aids nationwide is formally published through Aeronautical Information Publications (AIP) Supplements, accessible to airlines, pilots, operators, and international stakeholders.

“These processes are not discretionary. They are mandatory safety requirements, conducted using NAMA’s dedicated flight inspection and calibration aircraft, and operated by highly trained technical and flight inspection personnel.”

Specifically, AIP Supplement S81/2025, dated October 9, 2025, comprehensively documented the calibration and serviceability status of all NAVAIDs in Nigeria. At the time of publication, only the ILS facilities at Maiduguri, Ilorin, Owerri, Zaria, Minna, and Calabar were approaching due calibration dates. At the same time, all other systems nationwide remained within valid inspection periods.

One of the more persistent misconceptions in public commentary, he said, is the assumption that CAT III Instrument Landing Systems must be deployed at all airports to ensure safety, particularly during the Harmattan.

This view, he hinted, is technically inaccurate and inconsistent with global aviation practice, stressing that the deployment of ILS CAT I, CAT II, or CAT III is determined by operational need, traffic volume, aircraft equipage, airline capability, and long-term meteorological data—not by prestige, optics, or public perception.

“Subsequently, in December 2025, NAMA conducted a nationwide round of flight calibration exercises, restoring serviceability timelines across multiple locations. Also, in keeping with this proactive cyclical inspection regime, the next round of calibration is scheduled to handle Katsina, Jos, Ilorin, Yola, and Owerri airports early in the new year.”

He further disclosed that, globally, many highly efficient international airports operate safely and successfully with CAT I or CAT II systems because prevailing weather conditions do not justify the complexity, cost, and operational demands of CAT III infrastructure, noting that Nigeria is no exception.

The NAMA spokesman stated that historical meteorological data from Nigerian airports show that the lowest average runway visibility during Harmattan conditions is approximately 150 metres.

In response to this operational reality, NAMA, he added, has designed, validated, and published instrument approach procedures aligned with ILS CAT II minima, which adequately support safe aircraft operations even during the most challenging seasonal conditions typically experienced in the country.

To suggest that the absence of widespread CAT III systems equates to compromised safety, he said,d is therefore misleading, stressing that aviation safety is determined by appropriateness and reliability, not by deploying the highest available technology where it is operationally unjustified.

Wole Shadare