Navigation tools for Lagos, Abuja airports gulp $6m

•       FG to deploy equipment to 15 others

There are indications that the Federal Government may have spent over $6 million in the installation of category III Instrument Landing System (ILS) for Lagos and Abuja airports, Woleshadare.net has learnt.
Besides, government has also concluded plans to install the equipment in 15 other airports across the country and this is expected to cost about $51 million.

A source in the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) could not categorically disclose the actual amount the agency through the Federal Government procured high-powered navigational tool that helps aircraft to land in adverse weather conditions.

But, sources said getting a Category III system up and running these days would cost at least $3 million per runway, plus at least $5,000 or so per year just to keep it certified and current.
The project was aimed at tackling the problem encountered by pilots and airlines during the harmattan season.
An ILS enables pilots to conduct an instrument approach to landing if they are unable to establish visual contact with the runway. A CAT III operation is a precision approach at lower than CAT II minima and even at zero visibility.

It would be recalled that harmattan haze last December led to practical shutdown of local flight operations for some days when horizontal visibility dropped below the stipulated minima 800metres.
While local airlines were forced to reschedule or refund fares to restive passengers with attendant loses in millions, their foreign counterparts with advanced on-board technology operated unhindered.

Managing Director of NAMA, Captain Folayele Akinkuotu, said besides the ILS upgrades, the installation of Doppler VOR and distance measuring equipment were ongoing at 14 airports to replace the old ones.
Also installed by NAMA is a back-up radio in Kano and Lagos Command Areas, adding that vigorous training for air traffic controllers and engineers were being carried out in order to be abreast with current developments.

Akinkuotu noted that NAMA had taken steps to ensure seamless flight operations in Nigeria’s airspace, which is now safer.
With only Lagos and Abuja airports running 24 hours, other airports across the country are fit for only day operations; limiting local services to between five and nine-hour operations a-day.
He urged the Federal Airports Authority (FAAN) of Nigeria to provide adequate lighting facilities at the airports while the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) must not relent in its regulatory oversight functions.

The NAMA boss, however, noted that despite these challenges, the agency had been able to address the radio communication system with the optimization of the Very High Frequency (VHF) radio for Upper Airways communication between the pilots and air traffic controllers, installation of Distance Measuring Equipment, DME, Instrument Landing System, ILS in 12 locations and a Category III ILS in Lagos and Abuja among others.
According to him, efforts are on to ensure that its personnel were given the requisite training to improve their knowledge and keep them abreast of new technology to facilitate seamless air navigation in Nigeria.

Aviation Security Consultant, Group Capt. John Ojikutu (rtd), said the CAT III ILS upgrade has been long in coming for 20 years, though he commended the NAMA MD for making it a reality.
Ojikutu said it was, however, regrettable that most of the airports are yet to get airfield lighting for night operations.

He said: “The point is, how much will it cost to light up the airports? In actual fact, it is less than $1 million and that is about N350 million multiplied by 10 airports.
“If you make that investment, it enables you to maximize the businesses of private airlines using those airports.
“The airlines will be able to go to places like Owerri, Kaduna, Maiduguri, Benin, Calabar and Enugu among others beyond 7pm. The cost is only three to five billion Naira.

Wole Shadare