NAMA Seeks Technology to Reduce Flight Times, Fuel Consumption Others 

The managing director of the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) Engr Tayib Odunowo, says the agency is desperately seeking new technologies to reduce flight times, fuel consumption, pilot workload among others

Speaking at the recently held Annual General Meeting of the National Association of Air Traffic Engineers (NAAE) held in Calabar, Cross River state, Odunowo said the agency was also evolving ways of reducing operational cost and  carbon emissions.

According to the NAMA boss, who was represented by Mr Lawrence Pwajok, director of Air Traffic Services, the industry was experiencing massive introduction of disruptive technologies that will dramatically impact on all areas of the aviation industry.

Odunowo explained that International Civil Aviation Organisation in her Global Air Navigation Plan (GANP) and the Aviation Systems Block Upgrade (ASBU) had predicted major technological shift in the air navigation system which has made ICAO to provide CNS Technology Roadmap for the implementation of the ASBU Blocks 0 – 3 highlighting major disruptive technologies that would change the course of air navigation service provision globally.

He said ICAO was also evolved the concept of Performance Based Communication and Surveillance (PBCS) to emphasis the expected global migration from ground or terrestrial based communications, navigation and surveillance systems that have increased level of safety, efficiency, cost effectiveness, environmental sustainability, availability, reliability and continuity of service.

He noted that traditional aviation was built around the concept of manned aircraft (rotary and fixed wings) but remarked the advent of unmanned aircraft systems or Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) has resulted in changes in communication, navigation, surveillance and air traffic management to accommodate the operation of unmanned aircraft systems either in segregated, accommodated or integrated airspace blocks.

Odunowo noted that increased activities of spacecraft development for operations into outer airspace at supersonic or transonic speeds have also disrupted civil aviation of manned aircraft operations as a result of the frequency of such operations and the potential conflict with civil aviation while transiting from national airspace into outer airspace or from outer airspace into national airspace.