For flights safety and efficiency, the federal government is to provide the trio of Lagos, Abuja and Kano airports with new Category 3 Instrument Landing System (ILS) navigational equipment in 2019.
The duo of Lagos and Abuja will get their equipment in January while that of Kano will be ready later in the new year in the government;s efforts to replace the Category 2 ILS currently in use at the three airports.
Capt Fola Akinkuotu, Managing Director, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), said on the sidelines of the commissioning of the new terminal in Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, that the facility, on installation will improve airplanes’ capability to land in very poor visibility and reduce flight delays and cancellations that come with it.
“We are close to achieving a higher level landing navigational aid in Abuja in anticipation of the new international terminal. Except for some bureaucratic bottleneck, we should have had a Category 3 landing system here.
“As it is, we have the Instrument Landing System (ILS) Category 2 which allows us to fly as some reduced visibility and we would be able to fly lower than Category 1 ILS. Approval has been given, contracts have been awarded and construction has started for the installation of the Category 3 landing system.
“There are different categories of Category 3; there is category A, B and C but in any of these categories, an airplane should be able to land at a very poor visibility. With Category 3 A, B or C, you should be able to land at a very marginal weather but with a certain Category, you can land at a zero visibility”, he explained.
Akinkuotu said it is not only NAMA that will have to prepare for the next level, but other sister agencies involved in flight operations.
“This is because installing a Category 3 will require that all of us improve on our own capabilities. We must have uninterrupted power supply; the airplane will have to be properly equipped; the pilot would have to be properly trained for low visibility approaches and our approach light would have to meet Category 3 but the starting point is to ensure that we have it and everybody have been sensitized of what is coming for us to be able to take full advantage.
“In the conceptualization and design of the terminal building, there were some kinds of flaws that were observed that the terminal as it were designed, made it difficult for the control tower to see in totality or to have a complete aerial view of the two end of runway. This will be fixed in medium term because with the adjustment of the masterplan, we will achieve that. However, since it is a necessity for the air traffic controllers to be able to have visible access to both ends of the runway, we provided a mobile tower”, he added.
The NAMA boss also said the agency will continue to improve on its services, especially in the area of aeronautical information system.
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