The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : New air traffic control system for airport

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Friday, Jun 24, 2011
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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

New air traffic control system for airport

S. Anil Radhakrishnan

Automation system developed by a Spanish company

The air traffic control tower adjacent to the old international terminal of the Thiruvananthapuram airport. A file photo.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Indra, an air traffic control technology developed by the Spanish Information Technology and Defence Systems Company, is to be installed at the Thiruvananthapuram Air Traffic Control as part of the Airports Authority of India's (AAI) ongoing project to upgrade air traffic management systems with advanced automation systems.

Work on installing the Indra automation system, which will meet all requirements concerning air traffic safety, has started. The AAI has allocated the visitor's gallery in the old international terminal of the airport on Sanghumughom side for setting up the facility and has linked it to adjacent air traffic control (ATC) tower.

The air traffic control automation work was in full swing and the facility would be ready for commissioning next month after completing the testing formalities, a top AAI official told The Hindu.

Along with the automation of the ATC, the Airport Surveillance Radar and the Monopulse Secondary Surveillance Radar (MSSR), which are 16 years old, are to be replaced.

Apart from increasing the efficiency, reducing the chances of accidents and improving passenger safety, the new system would ensure complete coverage of radars. Aircraft would be in continuous contact with air traffic controllers while transiting to upper air space. Their movement will be monitored continuously. The new air traffic management system will help aircraft reach economic flight level, thereby drastically reducing fuel consumption.

The audio transmission to pilots will go digital and the communication between the air traffic controllers and the pilots will be enhanced. The automation will help pilots know about air pockets and operate the flight accordingly. The new system will give pilots more confidence as they will always be within radar coverage. It will reduce their workload as the navigation of aircraft is done from a single centre. Besides, the working environment in the ATC will also drastically change once the automation is taken up as the manual work will be less.

Six consoles are to come up in the new facility being set up in the old international terminal from where the domestic operations will commence soon. A U.S. system, AUTOTRAC-III Plus, is being used in ATC towers in New Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai while an Italian system, Selex, has been installed in Bangalore and Hyderabad. Along with the airport here, 37 other airports are to get the Indra automation system.

Integration of various radars would be an important feature of the advanced technology. The AAI is to interlink area control radars in the southern region to eliminate radar blind spots and ensure improved air safety and efficient air traffic control. The MSSR at Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Thiruvananthapuram will be interlinked.

The aim is to shrink its Flight Information Regions areas where MSSR monitor flight movements over an area of 250 nautical miles or more. Once the radars are interlinked, ATCs will be able to see the data position of flights, speed, altitude and other information from areas under the control of radar. Many Area Controls will be reduced to 4 Flight Information Regions. Later, the AAI will merge flight information regions and bring them under one control to achieve a single sky system.

Under the Air Traffic Control Thiruvananthapuram, 200 nautical miles south of Kozhikode, Nedumbassery, Madurai, and Tiruchirapalli and higher flight levels of 18,000 ft are covered.

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