Uche Usim, Abuja
Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika on Thursday confirmed receipt of a $8.5 million King Air 350i calibration airplane in government’s quest to boost aviation safety.
A calibration aircraft is used to inspect navigational or communication equipment like the Instrument Landing System (ILS), Very-high Omni-directional radio Range (VOR) and others to ensure they work accurately and precisely.
Sirika in a tweet, Thursday evening said: “Just received new calibration aircraft for the country. Make is King Air 350i. Cost $8.5M. The agony of contracting it to South Africa or Niger at about $500K every six months is over.
“Our airspace is safer. Thanks Mr President, we started and finished during your regime”.
In the past, Nigeria had a calibration aircraft but was starved of routine maintenance and as such became unserviceable.
The ugly development forced the government to outsource the mandatory task to offshore firms at exorbitant rates.