Weekly review #153 - 8th June

First up, there's good news for Hong Kong International Airport, as they've announced that the Civil Aviation Department has renewed its aerodrome licence, which for the first time includes its new third runway and associated taxiways. Operator, Airport Authority of Hong Kong, plans to commence operations on the new runway later this year as scheduled.

Next up, Naviair, the Danish Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP), has chosen Insero Air Traffic Solutions to deliver Insero AviCast in support of an urgent operational requirement for a new ATIS/VOLMET system, with implementation at Roskilde and Copenhagen Airports.

In other news, IBG has announced another milestone delivered in the preparation for the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar; completion of the Flight Validation phase that will enhance the terminal airspace supporting the ongoing QFIR project. This crucial flight validation phase was executed in close collaboration with Qatar Airways who provided their A380 and A350 Full Flight Simulators (FFS) located at their New Integrated Flight Training facility in Doha, Qatar.

Finally, EUROCONTROL has released some interesting data. Their short-term forecast shows that 9.5 million flights are expected in the Network this year (85% of 2019 levels), despite the impact of the invasion of Ukraine and global economic challenges.

If you're looking for more Radar Contact, you can find the latest episode here. This time, we had a guest from Norway. We talked with the Principal Engineer Kjell Arne Kamben from Edda Systems about the company's history, their products and services and more.

Airports news

• Final hurdle passed for opening of Hong Kong’s new third runway – Airport World - Hong Kong International Airport announced that the Civil Aviation Department has renewed its aerodrome licence, which for the first time includes its new third runway and associated taxiways. Operator, Airport Authority of Hong Kong, plans to commence operations on the new runway later this year as scheduled.
• Kathmandu airport implements new RNP AR procedures - The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal has published an Aeronautical Information Publication amendment for the entry into service of new RNP AR approaches and departures developed by NAVBLUE for Tribhuvan International Airport, the main airport serving Kathmandu, surrounded by mountains with a very challenging operating environment. 

Market news

• SITTI helps recover of Lybia - SITTI was involved in partnership with Technosky in this project to provide Libya with the installation, configuration, setting up, integration, and commissioning of 3 M800IP® Voice Communication Systems to be deployed at Tripoli and Misurata International Airports and the Tripoli Backup ACC system.
• EUROCONTROL becomes consortium coordinator of the new SESAR Deployment Manager - With the European Commission’s official appointment of the new consortium behind the SESAR Deployment Manager, the EUROCONTROL Network Manager is taking on the role of consortium coordinator of the new partnership between 14 air navigation service providers, 4 airline groups and ACI Europe.
• Air Traffic Control Association Japan engages consulting services of DFS Aviation Services regarding airport capacity analysis - Air Traffic Control Association Japan has contracted DFS Aviation Services for consulting services regarding the use of AirTOP software for airport capacity studies. A workshop at ATCAJ’s premises at Haneda Airport in Tokyo will address how to use AirTOP specifically for runway capacity analysis, interpreting the results and reporting.
• Naviair selects Insero AviCast to support need for new ATIS/VOLMET system - Naviair has chosen Insero Air Traffic Solutions to deliver Insero AviCast in support of an urgent operational requirement for a new ATIS/VOLMET system, with implementation at Roskilde and Copenhagen Airports.

Context information

• The SESAR Deployment and Infrastructure Partnership takes over as the new SESAR Deployment Manager - The European Commission and the SESAR Deployment and Infrastructure Partnership signed a long-term Framework Partnership Agreement, marking the official start of the new SESAR Deployment Manager.
• Bilateral talks between Qatar and the United Kingdom in the field of civil aviation - Mohamed Faleh Al-Hajri (QCAA) met with Mark Bosly, UK’s Chief Air Services Negotiator. During the meeting, they discussed updating the provisions of the air services agreement and operational matters between the two countries, after Britain’s exit from the European Union, as well as ways to enhance cooperation between the State of Qatar and the United Kingdom.
• Milestone delivered in the preparation for the FIFA World Cup 2022 - IBG Sweden - IBG announced another milestone delivered in the preparation for the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar; completion of the Flight Validation phase that will enhance the terminal airspace supporting the ongoing QFIR project.

Reports and data

• EUROCONTROL 3-year Forecast 2022-2024 - EUROCONTROL has released a short-term forecast, showing that 9.5 million flights are expected in the Network this year (85% of 2019 levels), despite the impact of the invasion of Ukraine and global economic challenges.

Research and innovation

• Drone development: what does it mean for society? - To70 - Whilst aviation is recovering from the Covid pandemic, soaring fuel prices and Russia's invasion of Ukraine have now made that recovery particularly challenging for the industry. Blog post by To70.

UAV and UTM

• Australian trial demonstrates 5G unmanned traffic management services to support BVLOS operations - Unmanned airspace - The SkyLink Unmanned Aerial System team in partnership with the Place Companions team, has completed a trial that would enable Beyond Visual Line of Sight drone medical delivery flights at a 5G site using SkyLink UTM micro providers and UTM cloud platform powered by ASTRA UTM.
• Regulators and accident investigators are not yet ready for autonomous UTM operations - Unmanned airspace - Global aviation regulators and accident investigators are not yet ready for autonomous UTM system deployment, especially in terms of understanding how to develop and update regulations to take account of machine-learning processes active in different parts of the drone eco-system.