The Department of Transportation (DOTr), through the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) yesterday inaugurated the P10.8-billion new communications, navigation, surveillance/air traffic management (CNS/ATM) system for the Philippines’ aviation industry.
The NCS/ATM will be fully operational by yearend.
The new CNS/ATM is similar to the one being used by Australia, Taiwan and some European countries.
The project establishes an aviation infrastructure to more than 40 airports, air navigation facilities and air traffic control facilities nationwide, from Basco, Batanes in the North to Jolo in the South.
The system also brings with it better air traffic flow and space management which optimizes airport capacity and efficient use of airspace that will in turn minimize delays by helping aircraft operators meet their departure and arrival schedules.
The CNS/ATM project started in 2009 but due to delays in construction and other challenges, it did not hit its target completion in 2016.
The project was completed only last October.
The project also includes the installation of additional 10 radars in Aparri, Laoag, Cebu-Mt. Majic, Quezon-Palawan, Zamboanga, Ninoy Aquino International Airport 2, Mactan, Bacolod, Kalibo, and Davao.
These radars will now be able to cover 70 percent of Philippine air space.
Previously, the country had only three radars located at the NAIA, Clark and Tagaytay, which covered only 30 percent of the Philippine airspace.
The new CNS/ATM Systems works by sending satellite signals to aircraft transponders and by using transponder transmissions to determine precise locations of aircrafts in the sky.
The new system which includes a computer-based flight data processing system, aims to enable aircraft operators to meet their planned times of departure and arrival while also adhering to their preferred flight profiles with minimum constraints and without compromising agreed levels of safety.
Malaya