LAGOS  – Airlines operating in the Ni­gerian aviation industry are set to save at least N250,000 per flight as fuel consumption after the migration and im­plementation of the Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) by the Nigerian Air­space Management Agency (NAMA).

Also, NAMA has dismissed the fears that the implemen­tation of SBAS would lead to the decommissioning of the Instrument Landing System (ILS) at airports and various stations across the country.

Speaking Thursday in Abuja at the 2nd Outreach event on SBASA Adoption In Aviation In Africa, Capt. Musa Nuhu, the Director-General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (DGCA), said that the adoption of the new con­cept by the indigenous air­lines would tremendously reduce fuel consumption for the airlines.

At present, Jet A1, other­wise known as aviation fuel is sold at about N800 per litre, depending on the airport an airline operator is purchasing from.

Also, aviation with its high cost takes over 50 percent of airlines’ revenues.

But, at the current rate, the airlines may shed at least 12.5 percent cost through the adoption of SBAS.

For instance, Nuhu said that for an airline that oper­ates eight legs daily, a quan­tum of resources would be saved, while also efficiency, accuracy, and the high turn­around would be achieved by the carriers.

Besides, Nuhu assured that the regulatory authority would fast-track the imple­mentation of the new facility in order to aid development in the sector, especially for the country’s airlines.

He said, “A quarter of a million naira is saved just on one sector by an airline. This is a quantum amount of money that would be saved by any airline that adopts SBAS. Also, if an airline is doing about eight sectors daily, you know how much money would be saved through this means alone.

“Besides, the amount of carbon emission would also reduce as you all know, Africa is hugely affected by climate change.

“SBAS technology allows for the coverage of very wide sections of airspace and lo­cations that were previous­ly overlooked by terrestri­al-based navigation aids. In many circumstances, it also provides more capacity, flex­ibility, and cost-effective navi­gation alternatives than older ground-based navigation aids. SBAS is an important compo­nent of Performance Based Navigation (PBN).”

Also, Mr. Matthew Pwajok, the Ag. Managing Director of NAMA, has dismissed the fears that the implantation of SBAS would lead to the de­commissioning of the exist­ing ILSs across the stations and airports.

Rather, Pwajok declared NAMA was augmenting the equipment within the coun­try.

As among the benefits of SBAS, Pwajok said the new equipment provides not just approach capability but en route capability, adding that it does not require the in­stallation or maintenance of ground-based navigation aids or landing systems.

He explained that it also re­duced flight times for airlines, fuel consumption, CO2 and noise emissions, and flight crew workload.

He added, “Increases air­space capacity, reduced Con­trolled Flight into Terrain (CFIT) risk/accident, delays, diversions and cancellations due to weather conditions, flight crew workload. SBAS implementation will enhance the implementation of Single African Sky and also avail airlines with optimum flight trajectories.”

Earlier, Sen. Hadi Sirika, the Minister of Aviation in his speech, emphasised that in or­der to support the aviation in­dustry to attain full recovery and resilience, strategic mea­sures must be implemented to enhance safety, efficiency, capacity, cost-effectiveness, in­teroperability, seamlessness, access, and equity as well as environmental sustainability.

He said the introduction of SBAS would make it easier for the sector in Nigeria to finally recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020.

He insisted that the neces­sity for the implementation of SBAS in the African region could be over-emphasized especially in view of the high cost of installing, maintain­ing, and calibrating ground navigational facilities at less busy airports.

The implementation of SBAS, he said would en­hance the accuracy, integrity, reliability, availability, and continuity of air navigation service in continental, remote continental, and oceanic air­spaces.