Modernizing Chennai air traffic control done by Boeing now
Posted on: 30/Oct/2019 10:11:00 AM
Early in this 2019, Airport Authority of India or AAI have signed a memorandum of understanding or MoU with Boeing for the purpose of modernizing ATC or air traffic control, navigation and communication system is well known.
The important information is Boeing has begun work on modernizing air traffic management services at the Chennai airport. It is brought out that Chennai airport might continue to battle lack of compatibility among its different systems installed by multiple agencies. Point is Boeing would look at the systems and suggest ways to improve efficiency and safety.
Last Friday, a team of officials belonging to Boeing visited Chennai airport and held talks with the officials handling ATC and communications. The Boeing team members met AAI officials to know about the current practices of air traffic control automation and improvements made in the air traffic navigation services.
Air space of more or less the entire southern peninsular is being managed by the air traffic control of Chennai airport. By Chennai airspace only, international air routes connecting Australia and Europe via south-east Asia and Middle East pass through is known.
It was later pointed out by an official belonging to AAI that AAI uses multiple companies for software and equipment like radar, ATC machines, air traffic control automation and others at FIR or flight information regions etc. He spoke about how this has led to compatibility issues as multiple systems have to synchronize. He added that it was not a safety concern.
It must be noted that the controllers have to space the planes at different distances as they move from one airport control to other. This could have been avoided if all the systems across the airports were standardized. The point is planes were not able to fly with the same separation on the Chennai- Bengaluru route because the radar and air traffic control systems capabilities were different.
