Our first story this week is about the ongoing expansion projects taking place at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. As the US's busiest airport, ATL has meticulously planned their expansion to maintain smooth operations while construction is underway. ATL was the world’s busiest airport from 1989 to 2020, handling more than 100 million passengers annually.
Next, ATNS have appointed Nozipho Portia Mdawe as their new CEO. Mdawe is the second woman to be appointed in this role within ATNS, marking a significant milestone for the company. With over twenty-eight years of professional working experience, Mdawe is a very accomplished executive.
In reports and data news, EUROCONTROL expects 9.3M flights in 2022. The reports predict steady growth between April and peak-summer, reaching 89% of 2019 traffic by August in our Base Scenario, with this level gently rising to end the year at 92%.
Finally, for UAV and UTM, DRONE FUND has officially closed its third fund after having raised a total of Japanese Yen 10.5 billion. The fund aims to create a global industrial ecosystem and solve critical social issues by investing in and supporting startups in drone and air mobility related fields.
In the latest edition of Radar Contact, we spoke about Artificial Intelligence in Digital Towers with Andrew Taylor from NATS.
ANSP news
- COBRA: Cutting complexity in FABEC airspace - EUROCONTROL - Final part of DFS and EUROCONTROL MUAC’s large-spectrum airspace optimisation plan goes live
- ATNS introduces new CEO - CANSO - Air Traffic and Navigation Services (South Africa) announced the appointment of Nozipho Portia Mdawe as its new CEO, effective from 1 April 2022. Mdawe is the second woman to be appointed in this role within ATNS, marking a significant milestone for the company.
Airports news
- Expanding Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport – Airport World - Meticulous planning keeps the US’s busiest airport on track during often complex infrastructure development projects. This means that when updates are needed at ATL, project design must build in a cascade of preparations to maintain smooth airport operations while construction is underway on expansions or renovations that are often directly adjacent to active passenger gates or airplane taxiways.
- Lithuanian Airports to analyse options for the network master plan - Lithuanian Airports has announced an international procurement for the analysis and preparation of the network master plan. This study is expected to provide guidelines for the development of the airport network ten years into the future. The document will provide an overview of the current infrastructure capacity and assess the long-term prospects for expansion under different scenarios.
- Tulum International Airport: Mexico's Next Airport Project - British Aviation Group - The Mexican government and army will build a new hub called Tulum International Airport. It will be located in the municipality of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo.
- FAA Commissions New Air Traffic Control Tower at Charlotte Douglas International Airport - CANSO - The FAA today dedicated the newly commissioned and environmentally sustainable air traffic control tower at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
Market news
- Indra's air traffic systems will manage the skies of the new Chinese air megahub - Indra has implemented and is putting into operation the new air traffic management systems in Chengdu, one of the few cities in the world and the third in China, along with Shanghai and Beijing, with two major international airports.
- Singapore Changi Airport Selects FlightAware Foresight™ Data - FlightAware announced a new partnership to provide FlightAware Foresight™ for Changi Airport Group.
Context information
- EUR 194 million made available in first Digital European Sky calls - SESAR 3 JU has published two open calls addressing exploratory research, industrial projects, and activities to fast track innovative solutions within the framework of its Digital European Sky research and innovation programme. The calls cover a wide range of topics aimed at making air traffic management in Europe smarter and more sustainable.
- Virtualisation to improve air traffic services - CANSO - CANSO has released the latest whitepaper in its Emerging Technologies series. Virtualisation covers the increasing trend to decouple services from bricks-and-mortar infrastructure through digital enablement.
- ACI World joins forces with EASA to enhance airport safety and certification in Latin America - ACI World - EASA have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation that will see the two organizations working together on various programs and initiatives to enhance airport safety and aerodrome certification, primarily in the Latin America region.
Reports and data
- EUROCONTROL expects 9.3M flights in 2022 - The latest EUROCONTROL Traffic Scenarios for the period April to December 2022 predict steady growth between April and peak-summer, reaching 89% of 2019 traffic by August in our Base Scenario, with this level gently rising to end the year at 92%.
UAV and UTM
- Japanese investment fund raises Yen 10 billion to support drone industry expansion - Unmanned airspace - DRONE FUND has officially closed its third fund after having raised a total of Japanese Yen 10.5 billion. The fund aims to create a global industrial ecosystem and solve critical social issues by investing in and supporting startups in drone and air mobility related fields.
- Transport Canada issues nationwide permit to Canadian UAVs to fly beyond visual line of sight - Unmanned airspace - Canadian UAVs has secured a Canada-wide Special Flight Operations Certificate for the operation of its fleet of small Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems beyond visual line of sight. This first-of-its-kind permit issued by Transport Canada allows Canadian UAVs to perform BVLOS flight operations anywhere in Canada in Class G airspace, up to 400 feet AGL, says the company.
- UK CAA appoints Egis to undertake research into drone BVLOS air risk - Unmanned airspace - The CAA has appointed Egis to undertake a study to examine the key safety risks resulting from unmanned aircraft operating in a Beyond Visual Line of Sight capacity, particularly in airspace where other airspace users such as manned aircraft do not, or cannot, operate.
- Thales ScaleFlyt Platform to support safe and secure deployment of drone operations in Australia - Unmanned airspace - Thales reports its ScaleFlyt Platform, which enables large-scale drone operations through planning, record keeping, risk assessment and corporate fleet management, has been approved by CASA, Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority.