MANILA, Philippines – The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) is off to a flying start this year as it announced the arrival of a new world-class air traffic system in a few months.
The government agency announced on Friday, January 6, that the new Communications Navigation Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) system will be operational by the end of June.
The state-of-the-art computer and satellite-based system will put the Philippines on the same level with developed countries. The system features aircraft transponders that receive satellite signals and use transponder transmissions to determine the precise locations of aircraft in the sky, CAAP said in a statement.
The project was partly funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). It includes the establishment of a central traffic control complex housed in the CAAP office in Manila, and 10 radar sites covering the entire Philippine Flight Information Region. It is now 92% complete, according to CAAP.
The system, CAAP noted, is the same one being used to control air traffic in Australia, Taiwan, and other European states. It is expected to provide a more efficient and safer air traffic flow management in the Philippines.
The new system will also help airlines meet their departure and arrival times and enable them to choose their preferred flight profiles with minimum inhibitions, CAAP added.
Once the project is completed, the country would be able to monitor 80% of the Manila Flight Information Region as assigned to the Philippines by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Due to this, CAAP said it would need the services of 500 air traffic controllers (ATC) over the next 5 years.
The long-delayed project was approved during the term of then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo but was not implemented. In May 2011, the Commission on Audit (COA) suspended the advance payment of P58.92 million for the new CNS/ATM Systems Development Project Package-I.
The COA later lifted the notice of disallowance, as well the notice against the advance payment of the DOTC for the project. – Rappler.com