Abuja airport closure: NAMA moves director to Kaduna
As the Kaduna airport is being repositioned to handle Abuja air traffic following the proposed closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja, management of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) is gradually upgrading its navigational facilities at the airport to improve its service.
In its bid to meet up with the deadline for the completion of projects at the Kaduna airport as a result of flight diversion, the Managing director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency NAMA, Capt Fola Akinkuotu, has moved the director of electronics to Kaduna.
According to investigation, Engr Farouk Ahmed Umar, Director, Safety Electronics and Engineering Services (DSEES) is expected to remain in Kaduna pending the completion of all necessary technical works, including the installation of the Instruments Landing System (ILS).
The Kaduna airport before now had played host to local flights and few seasonal Hajj flights but with the impending diversion of flights from Abuja, the Kaduna airport is expected to operate 24 hours service.
The management of NAMA, it was learnt ,wants to ensure that there will be seamless operations at the airport during the period that the airport will be operated for international flights. As at Sunday, work on the ILS was almost 80% completed and it was learnt that the engineers were working round the clock to ensure the timely completion of the project.
According to sources close to NAMA, the agency has very little time to achieve its target as ordinarily, the installation of the ILS will take two months.
This has led to increase in workforce and hours of operation. Industry sources hinted that “Work on the installation will be completed Friday while flight calibration will be carried out February 15, 2017.
Communications aspect has been concluded with the assistance of Kano console at the Kaduna airport” It was further learnt that the inability of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria( FAAN) to provide a control tower has led to the equipping of the fire service tower as a make shift pending when the mobile control tower in Abuja will be moved to Kaduna after the closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe airport to complement the tower there.
