China to modernise two of its most important ATC centres with Indra's systems for 19M.

Both contracts were awarded through international tender competing with the main companies of the sector. These projects amount to nearly € 19 M and the execution period finishes in 2012. These agreements are part of the Memorandum of Intentions to be signed tomorrow by Indra at La Moncloa in presence of the Vice Premier of China, Li Keqiang. It seeks to reinforce technological cooperation of the company in China.

The facility in Chengdu, directed by the Air Traffic Management Bureau South West (ATMB SW), is one of the most important control centres of the country. The system will manage the upper airspace of the countrys Southwest which includes Yunnan, Tibet, Chongqing and Guizhou, in addition to the Sichuan province with Chengdu as its capital.
 
This control centre is very important due to its location in a waypoint between Europe and Asia Pacific. It will also provide approximation and control tower services to the aircrafts operating in Shuang Liu international airport. Shuang Li is among the most important airports in the country and is located near Chengdu, a city with around 10 million inhabitants.
 
For all this, the start up of the Chengdu centre is one of the most significant projects in terms of technology requirements, among others which are underway in Asia Pacific.
 
The company will equip the centre with its automation air traffic management system with more than eighty controllers working positions, including a simulator to train them in the new system.
 Finally, Indra will also implement a validation centre to test performance and software versions before incorporation, thus facilitating modernisation.

Finally, Indra will also implement a validation centre to test performance and software versions before incorporation, thus facilitating modernisation.

Indra will implement in Xian, another important strategic location in terms of air traffic, its automation system with seventy controllers working positions for the control of upper airspace and control tower. It will also be equipped with a simulation system as well as another system for verification and testing.
 
These systems will support the Air Traffic Management Bureau of North West (ATMB NW) in the coordination of traffic in the Shaanxi region, where Xian belongs, besides neighbouring provinces such as Ningxia and Gansu.
 
Both Chengdu and Xian centres will be prepared for automatic coordination with other nearby control centres such as Guangzhou, Xinjiang and Beijing. This feature expedites traffic significantly, sparing operators manual tasks which in turn eliminate possibilities of error. 

To make the most of this technology, 160 air traffic controllers and technicians will receive training.

These two contracts were awarded after the announcement last year 2010 of the implementation of radar surveillance systems in different locations of the country. With these projects, the company has become one of the most active in the renovation of Chinas air surveillance network. Indras systems will cover 60% of the countrys air space, the 50 main airports and 80% of aircraft movements.
 
In Chengdu and Xian, Indra is implementing ten radar stations. The new contract for the implementation of the automation air traffic control systems in these two centres reveals ATMB trust in Indra.
 
Indra started working for Chinas civil aviation authorities on occasion of the Olympic Games. The company contributed to reinforce Pekings air space control in response to the increasing amount of flights. This project and the modernisation of Urumchi international airport in Xin Jiang were the first two references.