Weekly review #165 - 7th September

First up this week, construction of a new international airport has started in Jebel, Balkan velayat of Turkmenistan. The Individual Enterprise “Gündogdy” is building the airport on a site of 275 hectares. Final plans include a passenger and cargo terminal, a control tower, buildings for rescue and fire services, specialized vehicles and a 3200-meter runway, an apron (designed for 6 wide-body aircraft) and 4 helicopters.

In more airport news for Asia, Kolhapur Airport is set to get a new terminal building with enhanced capacity and world-class facilities. Considering the tremendous passenger traffic growth at the Kolhapur airport, Airports Authority of India has undertaken the work for developing the airport for enhanced capacity. The development project includes construction of a new terminal building, strengthening of existing runway, extension of runway, construction of new apron and isolation bay.

In other news, Bartow Municipal Airport plans to open a traditional, as well as remote, air traffic control tower training academy in January, 2023. This training centre is the creation of the Washington Consulting Group (WCG) and provides aerospace and air traffic management services. WCG is known in the industry as the company that led the development of the air traffic control training program used by the FAA today.

Finally, have you ever wondered how maths keeps you safe on an aircraft? Over on the NATS blog, they've looked into it. NATS’ purpose is to “advance aviation and keep the skies safe” and monitoring airspace safety is an area which the Analytics team heavily supports. Within the Oceanic operation, one of the global Key Performance Indicators is called the Collision Risk Estimate (CRE). Find out more on their blog.

ANSP news

• How maths helps keep you safe on your next transatlantic flight - NATS Blog - Prestwick Centre is the home of the NATS Oceanic Area Control Centre, controlling Shanwick airspace within the North Atlantic region from the Azores to the boundary of Iceland, and from the west coast of Europe to 30 degrees West, approximately 633,000 square miles of airspace.

Airports news

• Kolhapur Airport to get new terminal building with enhanced capacity - Considering the tremendous passenger traffic growth at the Kolhapur airport, Airports Authority of India has undertaken the work for developing the airport for enhanced capacity. The development project includes construction of a new terminal building, strengthening of existing runway, extension of runway, construction of new apron and isolation bay.
• Airservices’ Response to TRAX Final Report - Airservices Chief Executive Officer Jason Harfield said: “Airservices has carefully considered the Trax Final Report and adopts all the recommendations. We look forward to engaging further with the community on the report and our response to it.
• Start of construction of a new international airport in Jebel - Construction of a new international airport has started in Jebel, Balkan velayat of Turkmenistan. In Jebel, on a site of 275 hectares, a passenger and cargo terminal, a control tower, buildings for rescue and fire services, specialized vehicles and a 3200-meter runway, an apron, designed for 6 wide-body aircraft and 4 helicopters, will be built.
• All change at the top for Abu Dhabi Airports – Airport World - H.E. Jamal Salem Al Dhaheri is the new managing director and CEO of Abu Dhabi Airports. According to Abu Dhabi Airports, the appointment is in line with the next phase of its development as it continues to transform and become a regional leader in airport management and operations.

Market news

• IATA opts for Lido Sky Data from Lufthansa Systems - Lufthansa Systems announced that IATA has opted to include Lido Sky Data in the Global Aviation Data Management platform, including the Flight Data eXchange and Incident Data eXchange safety databases.
• Crown awarded FAA SETIS contract to provide NextGen services - Crown Consulting has been selected as one of 11 awardees for the FAA Systems Engineering and Technical Innovative Solutions indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract.

Context information

• Avinor appoints Mats Gjertsen head of unmanned traffic management and counter UAS - Unmanned airspace - Norway’s air navigation service provider Avinor has appointed Mats Gjertsen head of Unmanned Traffic Management and counter unmanned aerial systems.
• Operational Agreements on Activating Doha FIR Signed - Qatar Civil Aviation Authority signed the operational agreement with each of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom of Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, for activating the Doha Flight Information Region and connecting it with FIRs of these countries.
• Air Traffic Control Academy opens in Florida - New air traffic controller training facility opens in Florida to help fill the staffing levels for ATCOs
• ICAO MID Region Multi-lateral coordination meeting, progresses the establishment of the Doha Flight Information Region and Search and Rescue Region - Organized by the ICAO Middle East Office, the General Civil Aviation Authority of the United Arab Emirates hosted a Multi-lateral coordination meeting this week, with the participation of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Qatar, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The main objective of the meeting was to finalize and sign the Letters of Agreement supporting the implementation of Phase 1A of the new Doha Flight Information Region and Search and Rescue Region.

Research and innovation

• General Aviation Airspace Infringements- Casual Factors & Mitigations - Think Research - We look at the casual factors involved in airspace infringements & how this incident type can be mitigated within general aviation community.
• Gamification Boosts Learning on Lektor's Online Courses - Gamification means applying game mechanics into non-game environments such as online learning, communities and websites. Its goal is to engage and motivate the users of the platform. Gamification encourages active learning, which is needed in studying any subject.

UAV and UTM

• NASA funds University of Cincinnati and VISIMO drone research on autonomous navigation - Unmanned airspace - NASA has awarded a small business grant to the University of Cincinnati and Pennsylvania company VISIMO to develop better autonomous navigation for drones. UC is among 41 public institutions and 257 small businesses across the US sharing USD50 million in small business innovation NASA research grants. UC will work with VISIMO to develop better autonomous navigation for drones as part of the NASA grant.
• Drone safety to benefit from extended range of light weight silicon detect and avoid capability - Unmanned airspace - Silicon photonics company SiLC Technologies reports its Eyeonic Vision Sensor has demonstrated the ability to perceive, identify, and avoid objects at a range of more than 1 km. Having previously demonstrated a detection range of more than 500 meters at CES earlier this year, SiLC has now optimised its technology to go beyond 1000 meters.