NCAT get N5.2B approval for aircraft simulator for Lagos airport
* Gives Dec 2016 deadline for installation
The Federal government has concluded plans to install a full motion flight simulator to be built at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos. The facility which would help to train pilots and earn revenue for the country will be ready by December 2016, according to Rector, Nigeria College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, Capt. Samuel Caulcrick.
Caulcrick told woleshadare.net that the manufacture of the equipment for the installation of the simulator had reached 50 fifty percent completion stages.
A Boeing 737 NG and A320 costs between $12million and $23million regarded as the most expensive. The prices aren’t fixed because each one varies and all are made to order.
The Rector said he met with the manufacturer’s representative in the country and the manufacturer was waiting for the design and pattern of the location in order to get the project installed.
Caulcrick said the project which would be sited in Lagos because of its location as the centre of aviation will be changed in future for Abuja.
The Rector noted that citing the simulator in Abuja will work but not for now following the concentration of aviation business in Lagos.
His words, “The approval we got is for Lagos for a good a reason, Lagos being the centre of aviation for now. That will change in the near future to Abuja, not because it will not work but it will not be as it will be in Lagos. It is a moveable asset”
Caulcrick said he believed that Abuja will be made the center in the near future by the time the country start having over 200 airplanes, adding that Lagos remained the best choice for now to reduce the strain on operators.
He expressed delight that the aviation college has contributed positively to the growth of aviation in the country through quality trainings.
He said the institution was considering having campuses in three states in the country saying that Akwa Ibom, Enugu and Niger states governments have approached the college for the construction of facilities in those states for the college to run them.
“There could be the time a particular region will be the best for training if the facility is ready and the approval is there from NCAA, it will be seamless”, he said
NCAT boss said the degree programme of the college was on course and was awaiting the amendment of the enabling Acts and expressed the hope that it will take off as soon as a new minister was appointed
