The Federal Government has taken delivery of a calibration aircraft worth $8.5m that will serve in the calibration of navigational aids across Nigerian airports.
The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, who made the disclosure last week, on his twitter handle, says the aircraft would help make Nigeria’s airspace safer.
“Just received new calibration aircraft for the country. Make is king Air 350i. Cost $8.5m.The agony of contracting it to South Africa or Niger at about $500k every 6 months is over. Our airspace is safer. Thanks Mr President, we started & finished during your regime”
Providing further explanation on the usefulness of the aircraft, the minister said “the purpose of this aircraft is to calibrate our equipment and aids in the country for the purpose of flight operations.
“We used to have one in Nigeria but for the last two decades, we never had one.”
According to Mr. Sirika, the decision to procure the aircraft is because during the reconstruction of the Abuja airport the need to re-calibrate all the landing aids at the time became apparent.
Before now, the country had a calibration aircraft which was starved of routine maintenance and as such became unserviceable causing the country to outsource the mandatory task to offshore firms like ASECNA at exorbitant rates.
A calibration aircraft is used to inspect navigational or communication equipment like the Instrument Landing System (ILS), Very-high Omni-directional radio Range (VOR) and others to ensure they work accurately and precisely.
