Lagos — The multi-million naira radar projectequipment at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, has scaled factory acceptance tests in France.

The Managing Director of Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Capt. Ado Sanusi, said this yesterday in Ikeja.

In a statement by the agency, Sanusi said that engineers from NAMA had just returned from France with the cheerful news which would boost safety in the skies.

It said with the endorsement, the equipment would now be shipped into the country and installed. It quoted Sanusi as saying that the civil works at the radar site had reached an advanced stage preparatory to the installation of the equipment.

It also quoted Sanusi giving an update on the Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON) project, stating that the Lagos sector would be fully in operation within the first quarter of 2008.

The statement said the process of installing new air traffic facilities at the Port Harcourt Airport control tower had also begun. It quoted Sanusi as saying that the contractors in the oil city would be handing over the project in about a month.

The TRACON contract, which is being handled by Thales of France, was signed in Abuja on April l7, 2003.The project to be implemented at four airports notably Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abuja and Kano is to cost 66.5 million Euros.

Already, 40 air traffic controllers have been trained in the US on"Area Radar Control" to enhance smooth operation of the project when completed.