LAGOS: The Nigerian Airspace Management Authority (NAMA) has revealed that Nigeria has scaled through a pilot test to migrate from terrestrial air navigation to satellite-based. This announcement was made by the Managing Director of NAMA, Nnamdi Udoh who described the feat as a great one in view of the country's quest for advancement. He explained that the satellite-based navigation — Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) — was also known as Performance-Based Navigation (PBN). The Director said, “Nigeria's bold attempt to migrate from terrestrial air navigation to a satellite-based navigation system received a boost at the weekend when two foreign airlines tested the new procedure with pilots landing successfully at the Lagos and Kano airports respectively. “With the success recorded in our quest for moving from terrestrial to a satellite-based air navigation system, Nigeria has joined the league of big countries that are already operating the ICAO-endorsed air navigation program,” he concluded. Udoh said that among the four airports in the country listed for the pilot test are Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja and the Port Harcourt International Airport. The NAMA boss stated that the aircrafts are expected to be equipped with the prescribed gadgets on board for easy link with the satellite for seamless navigation and communication to designated airports. He also explained that the system reduced carbon dioxide emission and air traffic controllers' workload. 60 workers in the aviation industry are undergoing training on the satellite-based air navigation system. They are being trained by a PBN expert, Ed Hajek, from the International Air Transport Association, Montreal, Canada. He also revealed that NAMA would train about 250 air traffic controllers on the PBN system.
