Members of the National Association of Air Traffic Engineer (NAAE) say the recent calibration of nine airports across the country by ASECNA has confirmed the serviceable state of navigational equipment in the country in line with international standard requirement.
A statement by Engineer Makanjuola Ebenezer and George kiako, president and assistant general secretary respectively said the calibration was in conformation to prescribed standards in its quality assurance programme.
According to NAAE, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) recommended that air navigational facilities to be flight checked include VOR, ICS, DME among others while flight checks were required to examine the resultant signal-in space of the above facilities as presented to an aircraft receiving ststen.
They noted that the regular and safe operations of international air traffic depended to a great extent on the availability of reliable radio navigational facilities hence regular facilities were carried out.
According to NAAE, it was a mandatory requirement to calibrate the ILS every six months while the VORs were calibrated once every year adding that the second phase of the flight check will continue in June 2015 when the remaining airports will be calibrated.
According to the Association, the calibration airports by ASECNA include, Lagos, Abuja, Port-Harcourt, Enugu, and Calabar, others are, Owerri, Minna, Bida, Enroute station and Uyo airports.
NAAE stated that to further extend the critical services to other airports within the west African sub region, that NAMA members in collaboration with their ASECNA counterparts from Togo successfully established three new communication links between Lagos – Lome, Lagos – Malabo and Kano – Lome on April this year.
They said it will enhance air traffic coordination between controllers in these two centres and Nigeria and to further raise the bar on flight efficiency, regularity and safe operations within the sub region
They commended the management of NAMA on the calibration assignment describing it as a success.