At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency has deployed surface radar systems.
In his remarks at a gathering in Abuja, Matthew Lawrence Pwajok, the acting managing director of NAMA, revealed the information.
He said that freshly built surface movement radar and ground control systems had been placed in the airports in Abuja and Lagos and that the site acceptance tests for the facilities had been completed.
The new devices will increase efficiency and safety by enabling air traffic controllers to keep an eye on the movement of vehicles and planes at night or in limited visibility.
The surface movement radar would improve the performance of Category III Instrument Landing Systems.
Pwajok claimed that during the test, NAMA representatives expressed pleasure with the functioning of the radar equipment and demonstrated trust in its capacity to improve the agency’s operations.
This move is anticipated to support Nigeria’s aviation sector and guarantee smooth passenger flights.
Pwajok said, “The surface movement radar can be used when aircraft land in poor weather conditions. In most cases the airport is shut down because pilots can’t see and can’t taxi so they would have to wait until there is weather improvement. But with the surface movement radar, we can guide aircraft on landing, to the parking gate, and, on departure; we can guide them from the parking gate to the runway for takeoff as everything is displayed on the console. The same way the radar sees aircraft in the air, this one will see aircraft and vehicles as they are moving on the ground.
“Surface movement radar would therefore enable the controller to see clearly that the aircraft is in the right link. It would enhance safety on the ground by preventing collisions between aircraft. The issue of delaying aircraft by waiting for the weather to improve will be a thing of the past,” he said.
He said, “In Lagos, we had a major challenge of the tower being blocked by the Legend Hotel, Executive Jet, and aviation terminal. And that necessitated the deployment of the surface movement radar. So, with this, that problem has been solved. It has reduced stress on the air traffic controller as he can now see everything from the console.
He added, “Abuja, the Chinese terminal also blocked the tower and controllers can neither see the international terminal nor the presidential wing. At the moment we are using the mobile tower to augment the view. But with surface movement radar, we won’t need the mobile tower there anymore as every part of the airport is visible from the console.”
