AVIATION: Nigerian govt acquires $8.5m caliberation aircraft

The Federal Government has taken possession of an $8.5 million caliberation aircraft for the caliberation of navigational aids at Nigerian airports.

The aircraft was delivered on Thursday evening according to a tweet by the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, who added that the new acquisition will make Nigerian airspace safer.

“Just received new calibration aircraft for the country. (The) make is King Air 350i. Cost is $8.5m.

“The agony of contracting it to South Africa at about $500,000 every six months is over. Our airspace is safer. Thanks Mr. President, we started and finished during your regime”, Sirika tweeted on Thursday night.

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“The purpose of this aircraft is to calibrate our equipment and aids in the country for the purpose of flight operations. We used to have one in Nigeria but for the last two decades, we never had one”, the minister added.

According to him, what informed the government’s decision to procure the aircraft was that when it was reconstructing the Abuja airport runway, there was the need recalibrate all the landing aids at the time, which was actually the requirement.

“This is to ensure they are working in perfect order,” he added.

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