Aviation Ministry Gets N40bn Approval for NAVAID Upgrade

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, said he has received approval of N40 billion to procure, upgrade navigational equipment nationwide.

Keyamo made this known in a television interview saying that the state of facilities led him to request urgent intervention from the President to acquire safety critical equipment.

“We have decided to take preemptive steps to upgrade our equipment. We think there is need to meet modern standards. We are looking to upgrade our Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON). I went to Thales in France for that. We are also procuring landing equipment, navigation equipment and upgrading the ones we had before. Then we are trying to procure modern Instrument Landing Systems ( ILS), for the five International airports and some others.

“ There is also the Doppler Very High Omnidirectional Range( DVOR) equipment that guides aircraft in very difficult circumstances. Even in hazy weather they guide aircraft in their approach and landing.We are in the process of acquiring those equipment as a country to upgrade it. We are even getting Distance Measuring Equipment ( DMEs) too” he said.