L-R: Godwin Balang, director, aerodrome and airspace standard, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA); Endurance Keyamo, head of department, aviation business, African Aviation and Aerospace University, Abuji; Fortune Idu, convener, ‘Drone Tecx 2025’; Olusina Akinsete, guest speaker; Wilson Tija Maikano, general manager, general aviation, NCAA, during the 5th Drone Technology Conference and Exhibition in Lagos recently
Sade Williams/Business a.m.
As unmanned aerial systems (UAS) technology, also known as drones, is rapidly evolving, airports operators and authorities are weighing the pros and cons of integrating its operations into the traditional airport ecosystem.
UAS are a new component of the aviation system, and organisations like the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), states, and the aerospace industry are working to integrate them into the existing system.
Nigeria is not leaving any stone unturned in ensuring it keys into this emerging aspect of aviation.
At the 5th Drones Technology Expo held at Lagos airport recently, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) x-rayed the future of having drones-enabled transportation or Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) systems within the traditional airport operations system.
Olubunmi Kuku, managing director of FAAN, represented by Henry Agbebire, director of special duties, said vertiports, a designated area for the takeoff, landing, and servicing of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, including air taxis, drones, and other electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles, will not eventually replace airports facilities but will serve as complementary elements in the future.
In line with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) directive for countries to begin to build capacity and develop toward this air transport alternative as complementary to conventional aviation, and based on its special features and potentials and the application that support various other fields, Kuku said the DRONETECX programme has followed same pattern to continue to educate Nigerians and create a platform for sharing knowledge and information on this futuristic subject and preparing Nigeria for integrating UAS into manned airspace for commercial purposes.
The FAAN boss, who noted that the integration will require a well researched regulatory and safety enforcement framework, revealed that the last 15 years have shown unprecedented development and rapid research towards advancing mobility, adding that progress in automation, energy efficiency, advanced communication, global positioning systems, and artificial intelligence has collectively presented a very attractive option for transportation in lighter aircraft.
“More importantly, autonomous piloting capabilities are redefining how aviation will be perceived in twenty years. We are in a new future, the era of aircraft as taxis is here, and the potential for drones to participate in interregional flight is quite promising.What will the traditional airport do? In this case, urban air mobility is an air solution that looks like flying taxis. What will the role of the airport authority be? Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) envisions a future in which it is possible to take an aircraft for a family ride to the next city and to the nearby country, and where cargo can be delivered to individual doorsteps,” she said.
According to Kuku, this form of transportation, which is drone-enabled, is complex and is still being studied for interoperability, control, and regulation for safety and security.
She opined that Drone-enabled transport is believed to present a cheap alternative to flying and will close existing transportation inclusion gaps; however, the potential is made possible by the growth of electric vertical landing aircraft, e-volt, which is predicted to dominate future airspace.
“This raises questions about the future roles of traditional airports in aviation operations and how to prepare to integrate unmanned aircraft into Manned Aircraft Traffic space.
“In the future, airports will utilise vertiports as [be]spoke locations for hub optimisation and increased revenue potential. I believe airports will consider this moving forward. We will continue to monitor the developments, and airports will react accordingly to services regarding the land[ing] location for embarking or disembarking aircraft,” she further said.
Fortune Idu, convener and chairman, DRONETECX, called on the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development to begin to look into a policy framework on how Nigeria will key into the emerging sector which he described as having unprecedented potential and multidimensional opportunities.
“There is more to drones than flying for recreation and visual line of sight operations. The future of the sector is yet to be imagined, it is growing at an astronomical rate and will offer an advanced form of air transportation which will be safer and more available, known as Advanced Air Mobility. In the next ten years, drones will begin to solve the problem of urban vehicular traffic congestion by taking people to the sky as taxis. ICAO is doing all the regular framework to make this happen, all nations are expected to begin creating national development solutions and roadmaps for the future of drones,” he said.
