NAMA Director debunks unsafe airspace claim by NATCA.

Sky Watch Nigeria.

In response to the claim by the Air Traffic Controllers of an unsafe Nigerian airspace, Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Engineer Mazi Nnamdi Udoh has re-assured Nigerians and all stake-holders in the aviation sector of its continued actions to a safer airspace.

While delivering a speech at the agency headquarters in Lagos on Friday December 14 2012, Engineer Udoh spoke on the claim by the Air Traffic Controllers stating that such statement could not collaborate with the glaring reality that airplanes have been flying for the last three months.

He however pointed out that the current challenge confronting the agency was its long range frequency of communication which had just been introduced, affirming  that aside from the new technology no control tower had significant challenges currently.

On the alleged statement by the Air Traffic Controllers, Engineer Udoh responded that: “If they are quoting Air Traffic Controller, it means that, the Air Traffic Controllers have not done any work in the last three months and should not to be paid.”


The Air Traffic Controllers,  in a six-page petition signed by its General Secretary, Mr. Banji Olawode and titled “Continued worrisome state of communication facilities within the Nigerian airspace” challenged Udoh to urgently declare national emergency on Air Traffic Services communication facilities within Nigerian airspace to mitigate the communication situation degenerating into distress stage thereby threatening the lives of air travelers and general public at large.
The General Manager, Public Affairs, NAMA, Mr. Supo Atobatele, agreed that the current radio frequency – 27.3 MHz for the Lagos Area Control Centre is at present congested following heavy traffic within the southern airspace, adding that decongestion would commence by December 17 2012.

Airline crisis: Over 18 abandoned planes and 10 engines abroad.

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At least 18 Nigerian-owned airplanes and 10 aircraft engines belonging to domestic airlines have been abandoned in maintenance facilities across Europe and Africa owing to lack of funds to settle the accrued repair bills, authoritative sources at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and Nigerian Airspace Management Agency has reported.

Majority of the aircraft were sent overseas between six and nine months ago for routine maintenance called C-check. The C-check, which costs between $1m and $1.5m, usually takes an average of one month. The C-check is usually done on aircraft at 18 months’ intervals.

Local industry analysts and airline executives estimated that each of the aircraft and engine stranded in the foreign hangars due to lack of funds was worth $4m and $1.5m respectively, giving a total average value of $87m (N13.92bn). Already, the shortage of aircraft is affecting a crisis-ridden local airline industry, which has been groaning under skyrocketing cost of operations, among other challenges.

Countries where the maintenance facilities are located as Romania, Portugal, Dublin, Paris, Ethiopia and South Africa.

Speaking on the incident, the Director-General, NCAA, Dr. Harold Demuren, told has said that only a few airplanes were outside the country. He was not specific on figure.

He said, “Some of the airlines are planning to re-fleet and, as such, they may not bring those aircraft back into the country. Some of the aircraft outside the country have been repossessed by the foreign lessors.  So they are not coming back again, but for others that lack funds, the bail out by the government has helped them and they will soon bring them back into the country.”

Aviation consultant, Mr. Deba Uwadiae, said lack of funds was a major reason why airplanes belonging to Nigerian airlines became stranded in overseas hangars, adding that the aircraft and engines have been abandoned in maintenance workshops in Ethiopia, Dublin, Brussels and Paris because they could not raise money to pay their charges.

The President, National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers, Mr. Isaac Balami, however blamed the airline operators for the ugly trend.

“We cannot rule out the fact that the operational environment is very harsh. They get loans at over 20 per cent interest rate, whereas their counterparts abroad do so at only less than five per cent. 

Also, if we have Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul facility, i.e an aircraft maintenance hangar in West Africa, then we won’t spend up to what we are doing in Europe to maintain our planes,” the NAAPE leader added.

Aircraft maintenance engineer and Managing Director, Finum Aviation Services, Mr. Sheri Kyari, also attributed the problem to bad revenue management and lack of adequate planning on the part of airline operators.

He said, “Most airline operators do not usually put into consideration most factors that later appear during the course of their business. Some of them bring in an aircraft without taking a proper assessment of their maintenance history. After flying them for some time, they will be due for maintenance. They will then fly the aircraft abroad for maintenance but won’t be able to pay the bill. This has become rampant and it is high time the NCAA looked into this properly. Anytime an airline goes out of operation, the passengers suffer.”

Recently, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, threatened to remove all abandoned aircraft from airports across the country, saying the rising number of airplanes across the country constituted menace and safety hazard to the sector.

Over 500 flights pass through Nigerian airspace daily - NAMA.

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The Managing Director, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, Mr. Nnamdi Udoh, on Monday said that over 500 flights passed through the nation’s airspace daily.

Nnamdi, who spoke at a news conference in Lagos, however, said that the figure did not include overflying flights, which do not land in Nigerian airports.

According to him, air traffic has increased astronomically in recent years, adding that the situation has forced the agency to embark on critical projects to boost the capacity of its navigational facilities.

He said the development also informed why the agency recently started the process of decongesting the Lagos Area Control Centre of the airspace.

He said, “With growing traffic, especially at peak period, the main Lagos Aerial Control Centre frequency, 127.3MHz, had become congested with attendant challenges posed to pilots. The agency in her typical manner commenced the process of categorising the Lagos ACC. And based on the project timeline of December 17, 2012, the Lagos ACC would have been categorising.”

He added, “I want to use this opportunity to reassure Nigerians that our airspace is safe. To address some of the challenges we had in the past, the agency embarked on many critical projects to reposition and strength the navigational facilities in the airspace.”

Udoh explained that a team of air traffic controllers and engineers was already working on the technical and operational implementation of the categorisation.

The Director of Operations, Mr. Mukaila Solola, said NAMA had taken major steps to address radio communication challenges facing the airspace, adding that currently, only Nigeria could boast of having the Performance Based Navigation system in Africa.

PBN is a shift from ground based-navigation to satellite-based.

Solar power to compliment electricity at 5 Nigerian airports.

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The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency has commenced the installation of solar power equipment to aid Navigation at five airports. The N280 million worth of equipment are being installed at the Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt, Enugu and Bida enroute station. 

The Chairman, Stormberg Power Limited, Mr. Tunde Morakinyo has assured NAMA of the quality of the equipment insisting that with the installation would not only ensure uninterrupted power supply to navigational aids at the airport, it would also save NAMA millions of Naira spent monthly to power generators. The Hybrid power system is the first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa.

"Each of the sites has 24 solar panels with 15 KVA hybrid Inverter. The system has 18 batteries for all the NAVAIDS except the VOR and this can last for 12 hours. For the VOR, the backup batteries are 36 and it has capacity to run the system for between 15 and 18 hours,” the Stormberg Chairman explained.

Each of the sites has 24 solar panels with 15 KVA hybrid Inverter. The system has 18 batteries for all the NAVAIDS except the VOR and this can last for 12 hours. For the VOR, the backup batteries are 36 and it has capacity to run the system for between 15 and 18 hours

Mr. Morakinyo further promised that the second phase of the project would commence early in January, 2013. In his response, NAMA Managing Director, Mr. Mazi Udoh said that the installation of the equipment would save the Agency the millions of Naira spent on diesel. 

“It is saving us the huge amount we used to spend on diesel to power generators and the down-time we used to experience due to power failure. This is another milestone in saving money and diversifying our power source to Solar".

Nigerians among worlds highest Private Jet owners.

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Nigeria which currently holds a record being among countries with the highest private jet ownership in Africa. According to an official of Bombardier, the Canadian aircraft manufacturer, Nigeria ranks behind the United States. United Kingdom, and China among countries that top their orders for the supply of the aircraft type; just as there are indications that N1.30 trillion may have been expended in the last seven years. Nigeria is said to top the market for private jet ownership.

Aircraft manufacturers like Bombardier, Gulf Stream, Embraer, Hawker Siddley and Challenger have made Nigeria their huge market because of the demand for these aircraft types by wealthy Nigerians. The common brands of private jets in Nigeria are Hawker Siddley 125-800 and 900XP, Gulfstream 450, 550 and 650; Bombardier Challenger 604, 605; Global Express; Embraer Legacy and Falcons.

This private jets are not in all cases owned by individuals. The oil-rich Rivers State owns an AW139 helicopter, which it leased to a commercial airliner. The state then turned around to patronize the airline’s VIP Sikorsky S76C helicopter. Last year, the state government sold its Dash 8-Q200 aircraft to Cross River State for $6 million. Cross River State then leased the plane to Aero Contractors to undertake commercial flights to and from Obudu airstrip in the state.

The Managing Director of Aero Airlines, Captain Akin George, had recently spoken on the increasing number of private jets being parked at most of the aprons of Nigerian airports was particularly piqued that most of the private jets carry foreign registration credentials rather than Nigerian registration. The decision to register the jets in foreign countries, particularly in South Africa, is said to be informed by the notion that in case the owners want to resell the jets, they would warrant a bigger value from buyers.

He had initially called on the authorities concerned in the country to make registration processes in Nigeria friendly and attractive. The economic downturn in Europe and the United States had made Nigeria and China to become two of the fastest growing private jet markets in the world. There are many factors that have encouraged the rise of acquisition of customized jets, which cost between N2.4 billion and N9 billion. Chief among these is the fact that flight schedules in the aviation industry are no longer flexible. Inclusive is the huge passenger traffic that make air travel difficult for those who wish to travel by air. In a situation like this, wealthy Nigerians would opt to acquire their own private jets to save time that would have been wasted waiting for flights whose times of departure are not known.

Aviation Minister lauds Air Traffic Controllers.

By Lateef Lawal.

The Minister of Aviation Princess, Stella Adaeze Oduah has charged Air Traffic Controllers to continue to remain dedicated to the service of nation by discharging their duties effectively.

In her address at the 41^st Annual General Meeting and conference held in Makurdi, Benue State, Princess Oduah noted that the controllers have a great role to play in achieving the envisaged airport growth.

According to Princess Oduah who was represented by her technical adviser, Victor Elias Oche said, the controllers played a very vital role in the last DANA crash in Lagos with directions in search and rescue during the exercise. 

The management of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency [NAMA] also at the same event said that the welfare of the Air Traffic Controllers remained paramount in the establishment.

Speaking the occasion, the Managing Director of NAMA, Mazi Nnamdi Udoh explained that their plights regarding workload were being taking very seriously to ensure that all their working tools were provided.

Mazi Udoh represented by the director of Air Traffic Safety Electronic Services, Engr. Ifeanyi Nwankwo said the role of the controllers cannot be ignored adding that the agency was on course by training ATC inspite of the huge financial commitment and ensuring that the AIS automation will be completed by the end of this year.

Delivering his opening address, the chairman of the occasion, Hon Bala Na Allah a former deputy chairman house committee on Aviation, said the aviation industry remained the most industry for economic development.

Hon Na Allah stressed the need for all parastatal chiefs to attend aviation conference organized by associations in the sector to brain storm on issues affecting the sector.

He stressed the need for government to always look into the condition of service for Air Traffic Controllers describing them as hardworking and tireless people adding that the country’s airspace has continued to be dependable and safe.

In his welcome address, the outgoing president of NATCA, Haske Jibrin called on the management of NAMA to upgrade and renew its communication, navigation and surveillance infrastructures and the urgent need to improve the funding of such equipment.

Jibrin who also called for the implementation of enhanced professional allowances for controllers in NAMA, NCAA and NCAT noted that since 2011 when NATCA demanded for the upward review existing allowances nothing has come out from the management adding that the agreement provided a periodical review.

He commended the government for the intervention in the funding of TRACON project, Total VHF coverage project and the Aeronautical Information management and called for their completion before the end of the year.

The NATCA boss called on all airlines operating in the country to support safe and efficient air traffic services in the country by timely paying all applicable charges.

Jibrin noted that NATCA in the past five years has agitated for more manpower and expressed delight over the engagement of new hands for the ATC in the last three years adding that three sets of ATCO cadets have passed out of NCAT and were under taking on the job training in various stations across the country.

“While these steps will assist in meeting the vital and critical challenge of developing adequate human capacity in ATC, we call on NAMA management to change the practice of sponsoring ATC cadets on training at NCAT instead of direct recruitment.”

While calling on controllers to rededicate themselves to the cause of professionalism and strict adherence to the stipulated rules and procedures of air traffic control at all time urged aviators to keep to only the standards and recommended practices in discharging their assigned duties and responsibilities as it will greatly enhance safety and reduce unnecessary human errors and incidents.

Theme of this year’s conference was ‘Air Traffic Control in Aviation Safety Metrics: the Measurable and the Unmeasurable’. 

In his goodwill message the presidents of ATSSSAN and NACAN Comrade Benjamin Okewu and Philip Aderesoye described the ATC as the backbone of the airspace management in the country adding that their welfare should not be toy with in the interest of the nation.

According to the union leaders, the ATC remained the eye of the industry and challenged them to do more in terms of cohesion 

The occasion was attended by prominent aviation union leaders and representative of chief executives. 

Courtesy: Nigerian Aviation News.