The Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika has promised the reopening of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, in April 2020.
The Enugu airport was shut down by the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) on the 24th of August 2019 for the reconstruction of its dilapidated runway. But in the last few months, the government has sped up the reconstruction process.
Recently, on Monday the 27th of January 2020, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) announced that it has successfully installed a new Category II (CAT II) Instrument Landing System/ Distance Measuring Equipment (ILS/DME) at the Enugu airport. The announcement was made by Khalid Emele, NAMA’s General Manager, Public Affairs, in Lagos.
“As the build-up to the reopening of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu gathers momentum, the federal government has made good its promise to upgrade facilities at the airport,” a statement by Emele reads.
According to the International Telecommunication Union, an ILS/DME is a radio navigation system which provides aircraft with horizontal and vertical guidance just before and during landing and, at certain fixed points, indicates the distance to the reference point of landing.
It is a system that works by sending radio waves downrange from the runway end, with aircraft that intercepts it using the radio waves to guide them onto the runway. The installation of this new equipment will certainly boost the efficiency of the Enugu airport.
NAMA has also made efforts to tackle communication blind spots in the Lagos and South-East corridor by the installation of a Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) for satellite communication at the airport. Enugu airport’s Satellite Communication (SATCOM) node has also been integrated into the national SATCOM which is linked to the Africa Indian Oceans SATCOM Network (AFISNET).
Given the poor states of Nigerian roads and the increasing issues of insecurity associated with road trips in recent times, this news beams a ray of hope for travellers en route the South Eastern region of the country. With these new installations and a couple of other installations at the Akanu Ibiam Airport, passengers can be rest assured of hitch-free take-offs and landings at the airport.
