Whereas the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), remains committed to the course of maintaining safety of the Nigerian airspace, the Managing Director of the agency, Capt. Fola Akinkuotu, has traced the inability to automate Aeronautical Information Service (AIS) to issues in funding.
Speaking at Ibadan during the recent 2018 World Aeronautical Information Service Day, he said NAMA, in discharging its responsibilities of safer airspace, had to think out of the box in funding matters so as to remain afloat.
He noted that his agency is aware of the critical deliverables of the Aeronautical Information Management (AIM) project such as the enhancement of e-NOTAM, e-Flight Planning, e-AIP, e-TOD, e-Charts, e-Flight briefing and so on.
According to him, given that the digitalisation represents migration to a dynamic data-oriented aeronautical information management system that facilitates the real-time exchange of aeronautical information in an accurate and standardised format from anywhere to everywhere globally, “the automation project is a must-do for NAMA”.
While acknowledging that training and retraining play great role in equipping AIS personnel to meet the demands and challenges of automation in modern aviation dynamics, Akinkuotu assured that even though funding is an issue, NAMA would continue to ensure that the AIS Automation process remained on course and completed.
Business Hilights recalls that AIS, a very strategic component of aviation information scheme, is a service established in support of international civil aviation, whose objective is to ensure the flow of information necessary for the safety, regularity, and efficiency of international air navigation.
Earlier last year, members of the Aeronautical Information Service Association of Nigeria (AISAN), during their commemoration conference in Lagos, tasked the Federal Government on full implementation of AIS in accordance with Annex 15 of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
In 2017 also, NAMA, conducted a comprehensive competency appraisal of all AIS officers at airports nationwide, in lieu of the pivotal role aeronautical information plays in safety of air navigation, and readiness for the migration to AIS automation.
