Airspace Archives - Aviation metric

Free Route Airspace implementation in West, Central Africa begins

Posted on December 8, 2025 by Wole Shadare

The African Airlines Association (AFRAA) has ushered in a new era of African aviation with the full operational deployment of Free Route Airspace (FRA) in the Western and Central Africa (WACAF) region, effective October 30, 2025. Free Route Airspace (FRA) is a modern airspace design allowing airlines to plan more direct flight paths between entry/exit points, bypassing traditional, fixed airways for greater efficiency, fuel savings, and reduced emissions, by using User Preferred Routes (UPRs) and…

NAMA to overhaul airspace infrastructure, deploy HF communication facilities, others

Posted on April 8, 2025April 8, 2025 by Wole Shadare

…Farouk, Director in Germany for equipment Factory Assessment Test The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has concluded plans to overhaul the nation’s airspace infrastructure architecture as it is set to deploy the Rohde & Schwarz High-Frequency (HF) transceiver, equipped with advanced signal processing algorithms that significantly reduce the noise levels typically associated with traditional HF systems. This technology leap is expected to boost the long-range air-to-ground communications capabilities across the Nigerian airspace. It is…

NAMA: United Airline did not violate airspace regulation

Posted on January 29, 2025 by Wole Shadare

The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has said that an aircraft belonging to a United States-based United Airlines did not violate any airspace regulations when it decided to make an air return to Nigeria. Last week Friday, passengers onboard a United Airlines from Lagos to Washington Dulles were left injured as the B787 Dreamliner struggled mid-air, declared an emergency squawking transponder code 7700 and returned to Lagos a few hours after take-off from the Murtala…

NAMA, NAF Strengthen Collaboration for Enhanced Airspace Safety, Security

Posted on June 26, 2024June 26, 2024 by Wole Shadare

Air Force to train 20 NAMA staff to enhance manpower disposition The Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Engr. Ahmed Umar Farouk has highlighted the critical roles played by both NAMA and the Nigerian Air Force in ensuring airspace safety and security, stressing that while the aviation agency handles civil operations, NAF oversees security. He stated that the close collaboration between NAF and NAMA is vital for maintaining a…

Nigeria airspace safe despite dropped ICAO points, says Aligbe

Posted on June 25, 2024 by Wole Shadare

Chief Executive Officer of Belujane Consult, Mr. Chris Azu Aligbe said the 71% score recorded by Nigeria in last year’s Universal Security Audit Programme-Continuous Monitoring Approach (USAP-CMA) conducted by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is not an indication that the country’s airspace is unsafe. Speaking to Aviation Metric at the weekend, Aligbe stated that rather than waste energy on an audit conducted last year, he called on all the agencies to ensure that those gaps noticed during…

Evaluating TRACON, airspace architecture performance 13 years after

Posted on June 18, 2024June 18, 2024 by Wole Shadare

Nigeria was hailed for pulling through the total radar coverage of Nigeria (TRACON) system. That era began the modernisation of the country’s airspace. WOLE SHADARE evaluates the effectiveness of the system 13 years after installation From worse to applause There was a time when Nigerian airspace was categorised as one of the worst in Africa comparable with many others put in that bracket. This was a horrible period in the history of aviation in the…

Nigerian airspace remains open, says NAMA

Posted on June 4, 2024 by Wole Shadare

The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has alerted users that the country’s airspace is open to flight operations even in the face of the Nigerian Labour Congress’s (NLC) ongoing strike action to press home for higher minimum wage for workers. Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection of NAMA, Abdullahi Musa in a statement said the ongoing strike has not in any way affected the operations of the agency. He disclosed that contingency…

NAMA to overhaul airspace communication architecture, FG accedes to request

Posted on January 12, 2024January 12, 2024 by Wole Shadare

The Federal Government has acceded to the request of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) to overhaul and modernise the communication architecture of the country’s airspace. The Managing Director of NAMA, Engr. Ahmed Umar Farouk disclosed on Thursday in Abuja at the in-house inauguration/induction for the newly appointed chief executive officers and directors of the aviation agencies. He noted that the communication difficulty encountered between air traffic controllers and aircraft pilots became difficult as…

Free Routing Airspace In Africa Inches Closer To Reality, NAMA, ASECNA, Others Sponsor Project

Posted on November 3, 2023 by Wole Shadare

Trial Flights kicked Off November 2, 2023 Cooperation, collaboration, and commitment of stakeholders, including CANSO, AFRAA, IATA, ICAO, and Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs), made free routing flights a reality for the first time in Africa on November 2, 2023. In the Free Routing Airspace (FRA) Trial kick-off workshop, participants coordinated with all relevant operational services and secured approvals for the two trial flights. Shortening the flight time, flights ET935 and KQ 508 operated safely…