uAvionix and Bellingham International Airport Introduce FlightLine APRT to Enhance Airspace Situational Awareness

uAvionix and Bellingham International Airport (BLI) today announced the deployment of uAvionix FlightLine™ Airborne Position Reference Tool (APRT), bringing real-time airborne traffic situational awareness to the Bellingham air traffic control tower. Until now, Bellingham’s controllers worked traffic using visual observation and the radio alone, without radar or any surveillance display.

Bellingham was one of roughly 91 airports in the FAA’s Contract Tower program that operated with no radar or surface surveillance at all. FlightLine APRT provides controllers with a real-time visual display of ADS-B-equipped aircraft operating in and around the airport environment. Designed specifically for Federal and Non-Federal Contract Towers, the web-based system provides a familiar, STARS-like display that helps controllers maintain awareness of aircraft positions and better manage traffic within the local airspace.

“As an international airport serving both commercial airlines, general aviation, and business traffic, BLI is committed to investing in technologies that strengthen safety and give air traffic controllers the tools they need. FlightLine APRT provides an important new level of situational awareness, and we’re excited to work with uAvionix to bring this capability to BLI.” — Matt Rodriguez, Director of Aviation, Bellingham International Airport

FlightLine APRT received FAA System Design Approval in August 2025, and APRT displays are approved for use in the National Airspace System. The system uses uAvionix ground-based ADS-B surveillance infrastructure and secure cloud-based processing to provide controllers with a real-time depiction of airborne traffic.

“uAvionix is proud to add Bellingham to our growing customer base for FlightLine APRT,”  said Cyriel Kronenburg, uAvionix Vice President of Airports and ATM. “Bellingham is the first airport in Washington State with such a system that shares its heritage with the Surface Awareness Initiative, deployed at nearly 69 FAA towers around the country, including several in WA.”

The deployment comes as Congress considers the Air Traffic Situational Awareness Enhancement Act, introduced in February 2026 by Senators Tim Sheehy and Steve Daines of Montana and Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden of Oregon, which would require APRT installations at all contract towers that have no surveillance today. The bill is endorsed by AOPA, NBAA, Airlines for America, the Regional Airline Association, and the U.S. Contract Tower Association.