BusinessDay reported that Nigeria’s air navigation agency had acquired surveillance equipment and begun overseas training, while Punch reported that controllers said earlier procurement had not improved the equipment they use.
Farouk Ahmed Umar, managing director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), made the remarks at a Nigerian Air Traffic Controllers’ Association meeting in Lagos on Nov. 10, with Director of Air Traffic Services Tayo John speaking on his behalf, BusinessDay reported. BusinessDay said Umar described the recent acquisition of Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) equipment, the start of an overseas training program for the first group of controllers and NAMA’s work toward a major update of its radar systems. The outlet did not say how much equipment was acquired, its cost, when it would be installed, how many controllers were in the group or where training would take place.
The report does not resolve concerns raised by Nigerian Air Traffic Controllers’ Association President Edino Amos. Amos said earlier procurement announcements had yet to change the tools controllers rely on at their consoles, Punch reported. He warned that the association could consider withdrawing services if officials did not set out a clear plan to upgrade communications and surveillance systems, Punch reported. The concern also appears in EconoTimes’ earlier coverage of a possible service withdrawal.
ADS-B allows equipped aircraft to transmit their position and other flight data for surveillance systems to receive. The International Civil Aviation Organization says the technology can expand surveillance coverage and support air traffic services.
The Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation listed space-based ADS-B deployment among NAMA’s projects in an April 7 release. It also cited funding constraints, high operating costs, staffing shortages and revenue deductions as challenges for the agency.
A Nigerian Budget Office monitoring report counted four radar and air traffic automation centers and five standalone radar sites in 2012. Those figures describe the network at that time, not its current condition. BusinessDay’s account gave no radar contract award or completion date.
