The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) says it will commence full area radar control by the end of this month having up in place all the necessary logistics and equipment to run a hassle-free air traffic operation, the agency's Managing Director, Engr Nnamdi Udoh, has said. |
| Nigeria's new radar coverage with TRACON |
Speaking in Lagos at the weekend, Engr Udoh said 22 air traffic controllers (ATCOs) drawn from Lagos and Kano area control centres have already been trained in en-route area radar control procedures. Additionally, selected controllers, alongside some communication engineers, completed their simulator training at the Lagos radar site on Friday to round up their schedule of apprenticeship before being deployed into the field. The area radar
control operational manual has been submitted to the regulatory agency, the Nigerian Civil
Aviation Authority (NCAA), for approval.
"What we have now is a complete radical departure from the past.The new radar is a good thing to happen to this generation as we can see that flights are properly vectored by the controllers without stress," the secretary of the Aviation Round Table, Sam Olu Akerele, declared at the weekend shortly after inspecting the Lagos TRACON site in Lagos with his members.
According to Engr Udoh, the agency had on May 2, 2013 issued a Aeronautical Information Circular (AIC) to all airlines for a full trial of the new air traffic operation. The NAMA boss explained that the agency had also upgraded its radar maps and harmonised its database to allow for accurate co-ordination of traffic when the enroute area radar control is fully deployed.
NAMA completed the installation and testing of its new voice communications system in 13 Nigerian airports in March.
