Era Wide Area System Certified and Two Surface Systems Commissioned in South Africa

Eras wide area multilateration (WAM) system in Cape Town is the first certified WAM system in Africa for ATC-separation services in terminal area and en-route airspace, and joins a growing list of Era systems being deployed in the region. Completion of the surface and approach systems in Cape Town follows the recent commissioning of an Era system at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. Thales also recently selected Era to deploy a wide area multilateration system to provide nationwide coverage in Namibia down to FL 145. The system will be the largest WAM deployment to date worldwide. The surveillance systems are being installed to advance the air traffic management services in the region, especially to support the growing passenger demand and increased operations expected for the 2010 World Cup. Eras WAM provides surveillance out to 60NM from the Cape Town International Airport, covering TMA and upper airspace with performance levels greatly exceeding the latest draft EUROCAE WAM-standard, ED-142. Data from the Era WAM-system was fused and tracked along with primary radar, traditional MSSR and ADS-B data in the Thales EUROCAT X ATM-system as part of the certification process. The South African Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) certified the systems for operational use upon successful completion of a rigorous safety case analysis performed by Austro Control, Helios and ATNS. The completion of this project is an important achievement as ATNS continues to progress the safety and capacity of ATNSs Air Traffic Management systems, said Chris Steyn, the Cape Town wide area multilateration project manager. The CAA certification proves the fitness of the Era multilateration system as an alternative surveillance method to traditional MSSR. The integration of wide area multilateration and ADS-B data into the ATM system, along with the operational certification by the South African CAA is an important step forward in the global acceptance and adoption of these technologies as valid alternatives for MSSR, said Dr. Werner Langhans, Eras director for EMEA. ATNS joins a steadily growing list of countries that have selected, deployed and certified the technology for operation. Eras surface surveillance systems provides coverage of the Cape Town and Johannesburg surface and has been fully integrated with ParkAir Nova 9000 A-SMGCS systems to give controllers a comprehensive view of the airport surface in support of safer and more efficient airport operations. These three systems join a list of recent successful project completions, including systems in Beijing, Singapore, Budapest, Oslo and the Czech Republic.