BEVERLY HILLS, May 17, (THEWILL) – The Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Capt Fola Akinkuotu, has said that the lingering implementation of the Aeronautical Information Service (AIS) automation would soon yield the desired results.
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.
The theme of the 2021 AIS Day celebration was, “Aeronautical Information: An Indispensable Tool for Safe Air Navigation.”
Speaking at the World AIS Day celebration in Abuja at the weekend, Capt Akinkuotu, who acknowledged the long delay in the implementation of the project, said efforts by the present administration had yielded positive results.
Akinkuotu, represented by Mr. Nwokoye Nicholas, General Manager, ATC operations, said, there was a bright future to complete the project as the Minister of Aviation had bought into the funding of the project.
He added that the long-awaited ATS message handling switches for Kano and Lagos were already installed, with its configuration and activation set to commence on May 17.
Akinkuotu acknowledged that the role and importance of the AIS changed significantly with the advent of the internet era.
In his address, the President of AIMAN, Surv. Williams George Ngerem, lamented that Nigeria had been lagging behind in Africa in the area of AIS automation when compared with other countries especially in the African region.
Ngerem noted that only enhanced AIS automaton would prevent the circulation of of obsolete, corrupt and untimely data.
He called on the Minister of Aviation to as a matter of urgency implement the automation of the AIS in its totality.
Ngerem further called on the management of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, Zaria, as an industry capacity development institution, to improve capacity in the area of AIS automaton in order to effectively train and retrain industry staff.
Ngerem, while noting that the management of NAMA had been making progress in the area of quality and standards of AIS personnel in training, stated that more needed to be done to provide personnel with a conducive working environment.
He noted that many AIS personnel still work in deplorable conditions in many airports across the country, adding that it was not encouraging.
He appealed to the NAMA management to provide a world class working environment fully equipped with the state of the art equipment.
Anthony Awunor, is a business correspondent who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics (UNILAG). He is also an alumnus of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria Kaduna State. He lives in Lagos.
