By Dickson Omobola
National Association of Air Traffic Controllers, NATCA, has raised concern over the limited number of air traffic controllers in the country, saying it threatens operational efficiency.
Deputy President of NATCA, Shettima Babagan, said despite a manpower study conducted in 2022, which revealed that Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, in Lagos, required about 120 air traffic controllers to manage the area control, terminal area control, aerodrome control and ground control, not much has changed.
Addressing newsmen in Lagos, Babagan also lamented the technology and the infrastructure gap, saying some of their equipment were obsolete.
He said: “Back in 2022, a scientific study on the ATC manpower for the Nigerian airspace was internally conducted, at the time, MMIA, where you have five units needed about 120 air traffic controllers to effectively manage the airspace.
“At the time however, the number was in the region of 55. That means we had less than half of what was required to effectively manage the airspace. That is the reality. Now, there is a lot of pressure on manpower.
“Not even the manpower alone. There is also a need for facilities to be provided optimally to carry out functions effectively. Some of the facilities are Air Traffic Management, ATM, Communication, Navigation and Surveillance, CNS, Controller Pilot Data Link Communication, CPDLC.
“Within the context of Nigeria, the Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria, TRACON system, which provides surveillance information for air traffic control, came into use around 2008 and became effective in 2013. But that was over a decade ago, and technology has moved on.”
Meanwhile, President of NATCA, Mr Amos Edino, urged Federal Government to also consider the renovation of control towers across the country.
Edino said: “There is this contract for the Safe Tower Project, and that has been pending. We want government to look into that so that they will fix the towers, just as terminal buildings.”
On the aging workforce and manpower shortage, he said: “The shortage of air traffic controllers is not a Nigerian problem alone; it is a global issue. But what matters is how each country responds. We have an aging workforce, experienced controllers would be leaving in the next four, five, six years.
“We would be having over 60, 70 very experienced controllers leaving, and that gap will definitely be there.”
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