NAMA reviews aeronautical information procedures
By Louis Ibah
The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has set up a committee to commence the immediate review of the nation’s Aeronautical Information Procedure (AIP),its Managing Director/CEO, Capt. Fola Akinkuotu has said.
The Nigerian AIP, Akinkuotu said is a state document that contains all aeronautical information that relates to the services, procedures, facilities and personnel at all Nigerian airports or within the Nigerian airspace.
“The AIP review became necessary following the ongoing certification of Nigerian international airports by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO),” the NAMA CEO said in a statement on Monday.
According to the statement, the review intends to capture facilities that have been upgraded at the airports including fire cover, lighting systems, aerodrome layout, airfield lighting facilities, navigational facilities and visual aids. Safety critical information to be captured in the review includes landing and takeoff distance available, runway end safety area (RESA), flight approach procedure for all airports, state weather minima for all airports and aerodrome characteristics.
Meanwhile, some passengers were left stranded for hours yesterday at airports across the country as flights were delayed as local airline operators battle another round of scarcity of aviation fuel also known as JetA 1.
“We are experiencing the scarcity of Jet A1; getting the fuel on time is proving difficult a and this is causing little delays in flight schedules but we are coping well,” a spokesperson for one of the local airlines told Daily Sun.
“We are buying at very high prices, about N260 per litre right now. But we hope that the marketers are able to sort out the cause of the problem early enough,” added the official who wouldn’t want to be named.
Over the weekend, cost of aviation fuel had risen from N240 to N260 per litre, a trend most analysts link to the escalating cost of forex which now exchanges for over N510 to $1. Nigeria imports the bulk of its JetA1 for the aviation sector which makes the price of the commodity subject to the frequent changes in forex cost.