Aerospace Diary

Neelam Mathews May 12018 A team led by Egis Avia subsidiary Helios is delivering an independent analysis of communication, navigation and surveillance (CNS) and air traffic management (ATM) infrastructure, on behalf of Ukrainian State Air Traffic Service Enterprise (UkSATSE). An EUR82 million (USD99.2 million) air navigation service (ANS) modernisation project for  Ukraine  ...Read more in JAR

Neelam Mathews Feb 22, 2016 Indian airports will need to cater for up to 222 million additional passengers over the next 10 years to keep pace with demand, Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials estimate. Passenger traffic in India grew by 21% in 2015. The AAI plans capital expenditure of approximately USD3 billion in the next five years, mostly on airport development projects. "India is expecting an annual 8% growth in air traffic in the next few years and infrastructure will have to be in step with this," said SV Satish, AAI executive director of safety. "We are looking at more joint ventures, of which one government-to government MoU [memorandum of understanding] has already been signed with Singapore," he told  IHS Jane's   . Under the MoU, approved by the Indian parliament, Changi Airports International will operate and manage Ahmedabad and Jaipur airports. Teams from Singapore and India will also collab...

Neelam Mathews  - IHS Jane's Airport Review 06 October 2014   Thales TRAC 2000N L-band, solid-state primary radar. Source: Thales The joint venture (JV) between India's state-owned Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Thales is pursuing opportunities in the civil air traffic management (ATM) radar market,  IHS Jane's  has learned. BEL owns 74% of BEL-Thales Systems Limited, with Thales holding the remainder. BEL said in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange on 3 September 2014 that the JV was incorporated in late August. BEL and Thales signed a Memorandum of Agreement in 2012, but changes in guidelines and bureaucratic red tape resulted in a two-year delay. The main aim is to focus on the design, development, marketing, supply, and support of defence surveillance radars - but new opportunities have enabled the JV to widen its objectives to include ATM radars. A major driver for this is India's defence offset policy, which in 2013 ...

Neelam Mathews July 5, 2014 The government will need to start looking at aviation in its entirety and not in isolated blocks. Take for instance, the shortage of CNS manpower at Airports Authority of India, which is a  becoming a safety hazard even as new ATM facilities continue to be commissioned. If CNS staff, are not added as per present requirements, safety will be severely compromised, employees  informed the Chairman AAI recently. CNS and ATM Data Processing are the backbone of Air Traffic Services for safe and smooth operation of aircraft at airports and Indian airspace and accidents could be waiting to happen with overburdened and stressed people. Interestingly, DGCA’s Pre-commissioning Safety Audit for CNS-ATM facilities does not look into the Safety critical requirements of adequate CNS manpower for new facilities. “There is a missing link in the Safety Chain of Air Navigation Service….this is the weakest link in the chain....,” cautioned a recent letter...

AIN AIR TRANSPORT PERSPECTIVE  »  FEBRUARY 17, 2014 by    NEELAM MATHEWS February 10, 2014, 5:20 AM Singapore’s transport minister, Lui Tuck Yew, has called for Asian nations to liberalize air transport policies, and build connectivity and infrastructure in the region. He was speaking at the Aviation Leadership Summit, held on February 9 in Singapore. Southeast Asia’s aviation landscape has undergone a substantial change and transformation with the rise of budget carriers, which now comprise 50 percent of the market. “Low-cost airlines have brought air travel to secondary airports, [with] a focus on short-haul travel, and are code-sharing with legacy carriers. In Asia they have set up affiliates to form interconnecting networks…Governments need to embrace the  LCC  sector,” said Lui. As traffic increases, pressure grows on governments to ensure sufficient capacity at airports. While Seoul, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta h...

SINGAPORE AIR SHOW  »  2014 by    NEELAM MATHEWS Jet Airways is not yet a member of AAPA, but it has expressed an interest in the association, which addresses a wide range of aviation industry issues. February 10, 2014, 5:00 PM The 15-member Association of Asia Pacific Airlines ( AAPA ), which addresses a wide range of issues of common interest to the region’s aviation industry, is focusing its efforts on extending its membership base to South Asia–to include the time zones between  GMT +5 to  GMT +12, extended from the previous  GMT +7 to  GMT +12. “In 2014 we will be approaching more Indian carriers. They are welcome. [While] Jet Airways has shown interest, it has not as yet approached us for membership,” Andrew Herdman, director general of  AAPA , told  AIN . Jet Airways’ recent restructuring, following the establishment of a strategic alliance with Etihad Airways completed last November, is like...

SINGAPORE AIR SHOW  »  2014 by    NEELAM MATHEWS February 13, 2014, 12:35 AM India’s  GPS -Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (Gagan) system, jointly developed by Airports Authority of India ( AAI ), the Indian Space Research Organization and Raytheon, has been awarded certification for in Required Navigation Performance ( RNP ) 0.1 operations. Achieved with the help of quasi- U.S. government non-profit  MITRE  Corporation, the certification makes it the world’s fourth  SBAS  system certified for operational use. The first test flight using the system will fly an approach in mid-2014 from Ahmedabad in the western state of Gujarat. The aircraft is likely to be an  AAI -owned Beechcraft aircraft, according to S.V Satish, general manager ( ATM -Gagan),  AAI . Raytheon has built 15 ground reference stations for the Gagan System, which will provide satellite-based navigation for civil aviation over Indian ...

FARNBOROUGH AIR SHOW  »  JULY 10, 2012 by    NEELAM MATHEWS July 9, 2012, 6:00 PM Raytheon says tapping into Asia’s urgent need  to update its air traffic management ( ATM ) infrastructure  to handle rapid growth in air traffic is one of its key priorities. The company recently responded to a request for proposals from Vietnam and Thailand, and opportunities are surfacing in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, said the  U.S. company. In the Middle East, it has set up its AutoTrac  III  ( AT3 ) system at Dubai World Central’s Al Maktoum International Airport, and this is due to be operational by the end of 2012. “We are going to franchise AutoTrac,” Andrew Zogg, vice president, business development, told  AIN . “We will look at broader partnerships, more licensing, more industrial relations.” Clear exceptions are India and Hong Kong. Raytheon has been working closely with the Airports Authority of In...

                                                 

Air Traffic Management Aviation Daily Oct 07 , 2010 , p. 09 Neelam Mathews Despite the need to improve an aging air traffic management system, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has delayed the selection of a company to set up eight Approach Surveillance Radars (ASRs). The radars are required for eight congested and expanding cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. Only two companies—Raytheon and Thales—made the cut of the six that submitted bids in July. However, in August, Eldis, a Czech company with an unproven product, was added to the list after government officials took a trip to the Czech Republic to visit the company. No reason was given for the decision to add Eldis to the list, even though the company does not adhere to the main requirement of the AAI that finalists must have installed radars at a major airport with at least 1.5 million passengers passing through it annually. With India’s growing aviation traffic—8% annually—approach radars are see...

Aviation Daily July 08, 2010 air trafic management The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has started looking at upgrading air traffic management (ATM) facilities and reviewing methods to improve safety, mostly in Delhi, where a new Terminal 3 was dedicated July 3 at Indira Gandhi International Airport. As India’s traffic grows and monsoon season starts, increasing the risk of accidents, Honeywell has offered its Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System to avoid controlled flight into terrain. Responsible for managing the 2.8 million-sq.-nm Indian airspace, AAI controls all airborne operations. Having anticipated the traffic growth, AAI has installed the Air Traffic Service automation system in Delhi. The system has built-in capabilities, such as arrival manager, mediumterm conflict alert, minimum safe altitude warning, shortterm conflict alert and remote monitoring. Reduction of horizontal separation to 50 nm from 80 nm has been planned on a trial basis under the ICAO regiona...