IKEJA - Leading aircraft manufacturer, Boeing, has opened an office at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos. The development is coming in the face of increasing aviation fuel prices, personnel cutbacks, recurrent safety lapses like air misses, bird strikes, air returns and runway incursions.
The Nigerian civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) had described these problems as “frustrating issues’’ in the aviation industry.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Boeing office, Dr Harold Demuren, Director— General of the NCAA, said that the coming of Boeing would help in resolving the problems.
Apart from its proximity to aircraft, Demuren said that the office would also give technical support to airlines optimise their performance and enhance their operations.
He said that the impact of Boeing operations on the aviation industry in
Nigeria would be tremendous, as 80 per cent of the aircraft in the country were from the organisation.
“If any aircraft is having a technical problem, Boeing is here to look at it right on the ground, the experts are here to help us with our problems free of charge,” Demuren said.
He said the development would also boost Nigeria’s quest for the category One Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), International Aviation safety Assessment (IASA) status.
Demuren also spoke on the readiness of Nigeria to have a smooth transition to the Revised Vertical Seperation Minimum (RVSM) scheduled for September 25. The RVSM creates more flying levels for aircraft in the nation’s airspace, a development that would address the problem of congestion in the skies and reduce fuel costs.
“The new aircraft we are now buying because of the Cape Town Convention, meet those requirements and they have the equipment on board.
“The crew has been trained and the engineers have also been trained for the aircraft that is fit to meet the requirements,” he stated.
Demuren, said that the days of those aircrafts which are yet to meet the required specification for RVSM were numbered.
“They won’t fly at such an altitude; they will be restricted in their operations,” he said.
Demuren, also spoke on efforts to boost security at the nation’s airports, saying that the holiday was over for criminals.
“You cannot penetrate through our airports because we will catch you, our security system is on top of the game.
We are working closely with FAAN, training is continuing and more equipment are coming in and we are also doing what is called sharing of security details,” he explained.
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