NAN-H-67
Airspace
By Sumaila Ogbaje
Abuja, Feb. 26, 2018 (NAN) Mr Fola Akinkuotu, Managing Director, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), said the agency had concluded arrangements to enhance upper airspace communication to improve the quality of air traffic services in the country.
He disclosed this in a statement by Mr Khalid Emele, General Manager, Public Affairs, NAMA on Monday in Abuja.
Akinkuotu said the agency had commenced the deployment of four stand-alone JOTRON high-powered, Very High Frequency (VHF) long range communication radios to be installed in Lagos and Kano Area Control Centres (ACCs).
He said that the agency had conducted a successful inspection and Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) on the equipment in Norway.
The exercise, according to him, included physical inspection of the facilities and their technical specifications as well as the sensitivity, selectivity, signal to noise ratio, power output and range covered by the radios.
Akinkuotu, who led the team to Norway, expressed optimism that the new solution would offer options to controllers at any given point in time to discharge their duties efficiently and without hindrance.
“When fully deployed, this new backup communication solution designed by NAMA is aimed at addressing Remote Control Air to Ground (RCAG) communication challenges in the upper airspace (ACC).
“The four stand-alone radios by their design are totally independent and will not interface with any existing communication architecture already in use.
“With a range of over 260 nautical miles each, the radios would have sufficient overlapping of propagated signals to eliminate blind spots,” he said.
The NAMA boss recalled that the agency had earlier addressed aerodrome and approach communication challenges with the deployment of new 10 watt JOTRON communication radios covering up to 200 nautical miles.
He said that considering the fact that NAMA required only 60 to 70 nautical miles range for aerodrome and approach communication, it now had perfect aerodrome and approach radios.
Akinkuotu also said the beauty of the new backup technology was the fact that it could be used in case of satellite failure, maintenance of satellite or degradation of satellite integrity.
He also disclosed that the agency had embarked on the routine calibration of navigational aids at airports and en-route stations across Nigeria to further ensure accuracy and reliability of its facilities.
Akinkuotu said the flight calibration was being handled by Omni-Blue Aviation Ltd along with their technical partners, Fight Calibration Services Ltd (FCSL) of United Kingdom in collaboration with NAMA engineers.
He added that the exercise would involve the calibration of Instrument Landing Systems (ILS), Very High Omni-Directional Radio Range (VOR), Distance Measuring Equipment (DME), Path Approach Precision Indicators (PAPI) and Communication Radio Coverage.
“The exercise will also involve the flight commissioning of a newly installed Instrument Landing System and Distance Measuring Equipment.
“The calibration team, which began work in Owerri, has so far covered Enugu, Calabar, Ilorin as well as Lagos, and is expected to proceed to other parts of Nigeria in the coming days,” he said. (NAN)
OYS/SA/AFA
Edited by Salif Atojoko/Felix Ajide
=================