ATC Global Awards hail success

High achievers in air traffic management were recognised on 17 March at the 2009 Jane's ATC Global Awards. Sponsored by Thales, the ceremony took place at the RAI International Exhibition and Congress Centre in Amsterdam. A panel of judges from CANSO, Eurocontrol, the FAA, IATA, ICAO and Jane's selected the following winners — including a new category for emerging technology — from a field of 20 nominations:

Service Provision Award: ASPIRE partnership

The Asia and South Pacific Initiative to Reduce Emissions (ASPIRE) partnership includes the FAA, Airservices Australia and Airways New Zealand. The partners have pledged to promote procedures and technologies to develop shared performance measurements on emissions. Between September and November 2008, three ASPIRE test-flights demonstrated reductions in fuel and carbon emissions as a result of green procedures.

Industry Award: Boeing

Boeing's work on Tailored Arrivals (TA) enables aircraft to carry out continuous descents under constrained airspace conditions by integrating advanced air and ground automation through digital datalink. Most recently, Boeing led design activity to extend TA to airports in Miami and Los Angeles, and in-service trials with innovative ground automation to support TA will take place in May 2009 at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.

Contribution to European ATM Award: FAB CE

FAB CE is a Functional Airspace Block initiative involving the air navigation service providers (ANSPs) of Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia. A declaration of intent was signed in June 2008 and on 18 November a framework agreement was signed to establish working arrangements and prepare a formal memorandum of understanding.

Enabling Technology Award: Kazaeronavigatsia and Lockheed Martin

Kazaeronavigatsia, the ANSP of Kazakhstan, has since the mid-1990s sought to upgrade the country's ATM infrastructure. The Kazakh national ATM system will ultimately comprise four area control centres in addition to multiple terminal and remote tower systems. Initiatives to date with Lockheed Martin include the modernisation of the Aktobe Area Control Centre and the introduction there of an Omnyx air-defence system.

Innovation Award: QinetiQ Airport Technologies

The Tarsier automated foreign object debris (FOD) detection system from QinetiQ Airport Technologies went live at Vancouver International Airport in early 2007; in June 2008, BAA selected Tarsier for London Heathrow. Other airports using or evaluating Tarsier include Doha International, Dubai International and Providence Rhode Island. Latest statistics from Vancouver show that Tarsier is detecting 87 per cent of total FOD finds on the north runway and 81 per cent on the south.

Future Systems Award: MUAC and Indra Sistemas

MUAC on 12 December 2008 began using a new flight data processing system (FDPS) developed by Indra Sistemas. The FDPS is the first to comply with European specifications set in 2000. Featuring next-generation technologies such as increased automation, controller-pilot datalink and medium-term conflict detection, it can handle triple the traffic of its predecessor while supporting data exchange across all sectors and with adjacent ATC centres.

Thales Emerging Technology Award: Xsight Systems

FODetect from Xsight Systems is an automated FOD detection and airside surface monitoring system that combines electro-optical and radar technology to perform continuous automatic FOD detection on airport runways and taxiways. Launched in September 2008, FODetect has undergone extensive testing by the FAA at Boston Logan International Airport.