FG Acquires $8.5m Calibration Aircraft to Aid Flight Operations

The federal government yesterday in Abuja, took delivery of new calibration aircraft, King Air 350i at the cost of $8.5 million to aid flight operations in the country.

The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, who on behalf of government received the aircraft at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, stated that the last time Nigeria had such was 20 years ago under cover aviation flying unit.

He revealed that the country used to have one but for the last two decades, “we never had one.”

The minister revealed that what informed Nigeria to procure the aircraft was that when the reconstruction work on the Abuja runway was ongoing, and certainly towards the end, “we needed to recalibrate all those landing aids at the time ,which is the requirement to ensure they are working in perfect order.

“We didn’t have the capability as country and the only people close to us that had it is ASECNA, which is owned by French-speaking countries but the aircraft is domiciled in Niger. We approached them but they didn’t have a slot for us and if I didn’t get the support of South Africa; we wouldn’t have beat the six weeks deadline,” he noted.

Speaking on the benefits of the calibration aircraft, Sirika stressed that Nigeria will save a lot of money by procuring the aircraft.

According to him, “I know I paid about $500,000 to South African contractor to carry out this task when our equipment were due last year. If you say every six months, we will do this, that would be half a million every six months. So, when we do it 16 times, the value of the aircraft would have been paid. Not only that, we will commercialise it, generate revenue and keep our industry safe.”