Airlines, Service Providers Undergo NAMA Training on e-NOTAM

Nigerian Airspace Management Agency has started sensitizing and educating airline operators, service providers, aviation agencies, the Nigerian Air Force and other stakeholders on the migration from manual to digital Notice Air Men (NOTAM)

This, according to a report by Nigerian Flight Deck, is coming on the heels of providing seamless air traffic management services in the country as the airspace managers have also developed an application software intended to enhance the dissemination of aeronautical information to electronically transfer notices to airspace users.

The three-day train-the-trainer workshop designed to train airline operators, service providers, aviation agencies, the Nigerian Air Force and other stakeholders on the migration was to ensure a seamless transition from the manual to digital mode of using the NOTAM.

Declaring the workshop open, Engr. Ibrahim Abdulsalam, managing director of NAMA, noted that “aviation globally is moving away from manual to digital operations and Nigeria cannot afford to be left behind,” stressing that “the agency’s determination to provide safe, efficient and economic air navigation services has challenged us to deploy new technologies that would ease service provision, save time and reduce operational cost for the airlines and aviation agencies/organizations.”

Abdulsalam also expressed confidence that “the deployment of e-NOTAM would make for ease of access to online real-time aeronautical information by doing away with paper work, and bureaucracy that characterized the old system.”

He assured participants that NAMA was willing to make all necessary adjustments to accommodate customers’ feedback and complaints in areas of possible improvement. The provision of aeronautical information that could enhance flight operations is one of the key functions of NAMA. Before now, NOTAM was printed in hard copy and made available to airspace users.

Apart from time constraint, the cumbersome nature of paper work posed a challenge to both the agency and airspace users especially in emergency situations. E-NOTAM therefore was conceived to ensure an accurate database of NOTAMs, address the above challenges and also bring about efficiency in service delivery.