NAMA creates new PBN routes as international flights resume August 29

The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has disclosed that it created 9 new Performance-Based Navigation (PBN) Area Navigation 10 (RNAV10) regional routes across the nation’s airspace.

NAMA noted that this was part of its plans to ensure safe navigation by airlines as international flight operations resume on Saturday, August 29, 2020, six-month closure of the aviation operations by the Federal Government to curb the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.

This development was contained in a press statement issued by the agency.

The newly created PBN routes to include UQ300- connecting Lagos to the Central African Republic; UY604-linking Abuja, Port Harcourt to Southern Africa; UQ181- connecting East and Central Africa to Europe through Nigerian airspace and UQ400-connecting southern Africa to North Africa through Nigeria to Europe.

Also created are UQ324-from Adis Ababa to Niamey through Nigeria; UY333-from Tunisia/Algeria to Lagos; UY87-from East and Central Africa through Nigeria to Accra and Abidjan; UY57-from East and Central Africa through Nigeria coastal airspace to Cotonou, Lome and Abidjan as well as UQ200-connecting Yaonde to Lagos.

Also read: COVID-19: Int’l flights to resume from Aug. 29 — Minister

Apart from the PBN routes, NAMA also created 6 new flight-plannable direct routes. These include OK DCT POLTO; ARDEX DCT EDUKO; LAG DCT XIRON DCT JOS; KORUT DCT KDA; POLTO DCT APRUN DCT DETAR/ KORUT and KELAK DCT POSIB DCT GURAP DCT IBA DCT POLTO.

The NAMA boss said “the flight-plannable direct routes are to be used by compliant airlines’ flight management systems and would avail them the opportunity of flight- planning and routing within the Nigerian airspace from an entry point directly to an exit point without recourse to existing Air Traffic service (ATS) route network.”

Akinkuotu said the agency embarked on the above initiative to enhance regional connectivity, reduce flight time as well as fuel consumption for airlines, reduce C02 emission into the environment and reduce the cost to operators, even as he said the move would also reduce pilot workload and enhance airspace capacity.