Laments dearth of skilled manpower
TO improve the country’s airspace and guarantee air safety, air traffic controllers have called for urgent improvement of communications and surveillance facilities across the nation. This, they said, was necessary in order to boost and sustain air safety in the country.
The controllers, under the aegis of the Nigerian Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), spoke at its 42nd AGM/Conference in Asaba, Delta State, yesterday.
President of NATCA, Victor Eyaru, disclosed that air traffic management facilities and central navigation system nationwide were yet to be improved upon.
Eyaru explained that no matter how beautiful an airport building looks, it will be a waste without the proper facilities in place, explaining that air traffic controllers at the nation’s two area control centres in Kano and Lagos go through a lot of herculean tasks to communicate with pilots.
Eyaru stressed the need for alternative for radar facilities in a bid to have reliable alternative whenever there was power failure.
His words: “One of the fundamental challenges we face today in spite of the transformations and remodelling in the industry deals with ageing workforce in all the parastatals, dearth of professionals in the critical areas of Nigeria’s airspace management, dearth of aircraft inspectors in the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Nigeria College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), arising from the retirement of well-trained and highly-skilled professionals without commensurate replacement through well-established and sustained process of recruitment of suitable qualified persons.”
He noted that political appointees without cognate experience in support group in the core areas of their agencies were appointed, adding that it was a source of worry to NATCA and called on the government to have a re-think with a view to do the right thing to salvage the aviation industry from total collapse.
Eyaru decried the threat to sustenance of agencies through paucity of funds and policy somersaults, which has affected the agencies negatively.
It would be recalled that many foreign airlines and over flyers are currently avoiding Nigerian air space.
In February to June last year, the following airlines took the action to evade Nigeria’s airspace according to report submitted to the Minister of Aviation; Air France’s AFR 889 from Kinshasa to Paris, AFR 995 from Johannesburg to Paris, AFR 900 from Yaoundé to Paris, AFR 928 from Luanda to Paris, AFR 896 from Brazzaville to Paris; British Airways’ BAW 55K from London to Johannesburg; and Air Namibia’s NMB 286 from Frankfurt to Windhoek.
Others were Emirates’ UAE 261 from Dubai to Sao Paulo, UAE 247 from Dubai to Rio De Janeiro; Qatari’s QTR 922 from Sao Paulo to Doha; Belgian Airline’s BEL 357 from Brussels to Kinshasa; and South African Airways’ SAA 237 from London to Johannesburg, SAA 260 from Johannesburg to Frankfurt, SAA 261 from Frankfurt to Johannesburg, SAA 264 from Johannesburg to Munich and SAA 265 from Munich to Johannesburg.
According to the report by the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), “there are several cases where aircraft enter into Nigerian airspace unnoticed until neighbouring airspace notifies us through telephone, e.g. Ndjamena (Chad),” the report said.
It claimed that air traffic controllers on duty “sometimes watch helplessly whenever aircraft are near collision and cannot provide air traffic control due to inability to communicate.”
“Our neighbouring airspace has such facilities, which is probably why over flyers prefer using their airspace even through longer destinations,” one of the reports said.
TO improve the country’s airspace and guarantee air safety, air traffic controllers have called for urgent improvement of communications and surveillance facilities across the nation. This, they said, was necessary in order to boost and sustain air safety in the country.
The controllers, under the aegis of the Nigerian Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), spoke at its 42nd AGM/Conference in Asaba, Delta State, yesterday.
President of NATCA, Victor Eyaru, disclosed that air traffic management facilities and central navigation system nationwide were yet to be improved upon.
Eyaru explained that no matter how beautiful an airport building looks, it will be a waste without the proper facilities in place, explaining that air traffic controllers at the nation’s two area control centres in Kano and Lagos go through a lot of herculean tasks to communicate with pilots.
Eyaru stressed the need for alternative for radar facilities in a bid to have reliable alternative whenever there was power failure.
His words: “One of the fundamental challenges we face today in spite of the transformations and remodelling in the industry deals with ageing workforce in all the parastatals, dearth of professionals in the critical areas of Nigeria’s airspace management, dearth of aircraft inspectors in the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Nigeria College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), arising from the retirement of well-trained and highly-skilled professionals without commensurate replacement through well-established and sustained process of recruitment of suitable qualified persons.”
He noted that political appointees without cognate experience in support group in the core areas of their agencies were appointed, adding that it was a source of worry to NATCA and called on the government to have a re-think with a view to do the right thing to salvage the aviation industry from total collapse.
Eyaru decried the threat to sustenance of agencies through paucity of funds and policy somersaults, which has affected the agencies negatively.
It would be recalled that many foreign airlines and over flyers are currently avoiding Nigerian air space.
In February to June last year, the following airlines took the action to evade Nigeria’s airspace according to report submitted to the Minister of Aviation; Air France’s AFR 889 from Kinshasa to Paris, AFR 995 from Johannesburg to Paris, AFR 900 from Yaoundé to Paris, AFR 928 from Luanda to Paris, AFR 896 from Brazzaville to Paris; British Airways’ BAW 55K from London to Johannesburg; and Air Namibia’s NMB 286 from Frankfurt to Windhoek.
Others were Emirates’ UAE 261 from Dubai to Sao Paulo, UAE 247 from Dubai to Rio De Janeiro; Qatari’s QTR 922 from Sao Paulo to Doha; Belgian Airline’s BEL 357 from Brussels to Kinshasa; and South African Airways’ SAA 237 from London to Johannesburg, SAA 260 from Johannesburg to Frankfurt, SAA 261 from Frankfurt to Johannesburg, SAA 264 from Johannesburg to Munich and SAA 265 from Munich to Johannesburg.
According to the report by the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), “there are several cases where aircraft enter into Nigerian airspace unnoticed until neighbouring airspace notifies us through telephone, e.g. Ndjamena (Chad),” the report said.
It claimed that air traffic controllers on duty “sometimes watch helplessly whenever aircraft are near collision and cannot provide air traffic control due to inability to communicate.”
“Our neighbouring airspace has such facilities, which is probably why over flyers prefer using their airspace even through longer destinations,” one of the reports said.
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