The acting managing director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Mr. Matthew Pwajok, has announced plans to train airspace managers in all airports in Nigeria on global air navigation plan.
Pwajok who revealed this at the weekend in Port Harcourt at the 2023 airspace managers’ forum said the programme was aimed at equipping airspace managers with global trends in strategic air traffic management and also building their capacity for seamless airspace operations in their various domains.
He further said it had become imperative that airspace managers at the nation’s airports are kept abreast of global trends in airspace management.
“Aviation is global; there is no Nigerian aviation standard. We are not operating in isolation and so we are maintaining international standards.
“We are benchmarking and implementing the International Civil Aviation (ICAO) Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs), he said.”
Pwajok said the training would expose managers to global air navigation plan, regional air navigation plan and national air navigation plan as well as keep them acquainted with the civil aviation policy which is the framework that guides operations nationally.
“You must also be kept abreast of the aviation roadmap or master plan of the federal government; our communication, navigation, surveillance/air traffic management (CNS/ATM) master plan and the milestones towards attaining these master plans because these are frameworks within which we are expected to operate in carrying out our statutory function as the nation’s airspace manager,” he told participants at the forum.
He added that airspace managers needed to be top-notch in understanding the national air navigation plan as it relates to the implementation strategies, milestones, timelines, and technology roadmaps for achieving the national plan and the strategic position of NAMA in the entire plan.
Pwajok who solicited for their buy-in to ensure successful implementation said with the increased pressure on the aviation industry at the global, regional and national level following the growth in passenger and cargo, there was the need for the agency to grow capacity to be able to cope with the increasing traffic.
He added that insecurity, expansion in the economy and the upsurge in political activities in Nigeria also accounted for increased demand for air travel, hence the need for strategic air traffic management that would ensure seamlessness in operations.
He cautioned managers at airports with limited hours of operations against turning down requests for extension of services especially during the period of electioneering.
Pwajok also called for the support and buy-in of managers with respect to the aviation roadmap being implemented by the minister saying it would enhance the growth of the industry.
According to him, airports the world over are best handled by experts who run them as a business.
“Concession of airports in Nigeria would attract direct foreign investment necessary for export expansion, development of aerotropolis, airport cities, cargo terminals as well as maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) operations,” Pwajok said.
