NAMA, AISAN set for digital aeronautical management

The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and Aeronautical Information Service Association of Nigeria (AISAN) have reinstated commitment towards accelerating the digitalisation of Aeronautical Information Service (AIS) nationwide.

The pledge was in view of the importance of data automation to the overall safety of civil aviation that was reemphasised at World AIS Day 2017 recently commemorated in Lagos.

While the workers urged the Federal Government on full implementation of AIS in accordance with Annex 15 of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the airspace management agency assured that the requisite update is a priority and achievable with the dedication of workers.

AIS 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.

Managing Director of NAMA, Capt. Fola Akinkuotu, said that the agency is aware of 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.

Akinkuotu said 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.”

He added that for the dream of AIS automation to be realised, it behooves on staff of the department to put in their best to see that their service, both at the individual and group level, remains invaluable.

The MD noted that therein lays the value of extensive research and paper presentation at seminars, targeted at enriching the system and taking it to the next level.

He promised to open his doors to their professional and technical advice which he said would give him the needed guidance in taking key decisions.

Commending staffers at the NAMA AIS department, Akinkuotu said: “AIS remains one of the most critical departments in the agency even though they are hardly given the prominence they deserve. This is so because their job most often, is behind-the-scene. But the absence of AIS in the system will bring about chaos in the entire civil aviation,” he said.

General Manager, AIS, Kabir Gusau, appealed to NAMA management to consider the periodic training and retraining of AIS personnel which according to him, “would bring staff up to speed with modern trends in a dynamic aviation industry and also prepare them to effectively embrace automation when fully deployed.”

Gusau also harped on the need for the agency and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to ensure that qualified AIS personnel were licensed as this would bolster them towards hard work, commitment to duty and enhanced productivity.

President of the Aeronautical Information Services Association of Nigeria (AISAN), Shittu Babatunde, said that the provisions of Annex 15 were yet to be fully felt in Nigeria due to incompletion of AIS Automation; non-implementation of Electronic terrain and obstacle data (ETOD); inadequate training of AIS personnel and the need for the implementation of quality management system.