Upgrade your landing aids, pilots tell NAMA

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8 years ago

The last is yet to be heard about the altercation between airline operators under the aegis of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) as some airline pilots said the airspace management agency should be held responsible for flight delays occasioned by inclement weather.

The AON had taken a swipe on NAMA on Wednesday alleging that Nigerian airports’ communication and surveillance equipment are less than the standard.

The operators noted that the Murtala Muhammed Airport which is the nation’s biggest and busiest airport is a CAT l airport; an indication that flights cannot land at below 800m due to the obsolete Instrument Landing System (ILS) in place at the airport.

They urged NAMA to get better equipment or upgrade existing facilities to Category three (CAT 111).

In a swift reaction, the management of NAMA, through the Acting Managing Director, Emmanuel Anyansi, an engineer, carpeted the airlines and stated that they do not have aircraft fitted with facilities to align with equipment on ground to aid landing and take-off during harmattan period.

NAMA has also revealed that it would have been easy to get some other facilities to improve air navigation if not for the gargantuan indebtedness of airlines to the agency to the tune of N6b and $27 million respectively.

The NAMA boss disclosed that all the Instrument Landing Systems (ILS) were working, noting that the agency has implemented the Performance Base Navigational approaches in 20 airports.

But the pilots who spoke under strict condition of anonymity because of fear of being reprimanded by the regulatory authority said their airplanes are all fitted with equipment to land in zero visibility but stated that lack of calibration of the ground equipment would make it very dangerous for them to contemplate that.

They stated that they need to upgrade the ILS from grade one to at least category 11, stressing that the “best we are doing is category one.”

“They need to upgrade ground equipment and do the accuracy of this equipment by way of periodic calibration. The minimum visibility for us is 800 meters. We have the equipment to land in zero visibility. Abuja and Lagos are supposed to be upgraded to at least category 11.”

“Arik, Medview and FirstNation Airlines can do it but regulations would not allow us operate below the weather minima they have stipulated. If we do it, they will just after us and withdraw our licenses.”