Barco has announced that NATS, national air navigation service provider for the UK, has selected Barco’s arrival management system for five airports in the London area.
The contract includes the integration of Barco's OSYRIS Arrival Manager Software with NATS’ existing Air traffic control system, enabling the efficient management of arrival air traffic for London Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted and London City.Of key importance was Barco's ability to meet NATS' demanding project schedule and safety requirements, backed up by Barco's proven track record on similar projects. After an extensive technical and commercial evaluation, including visiting existing OSYRIS users, NATS decided to implement Barco's OSYRIS Arrival Manager. Barco's OSYRIS Arrival Manager is part of the OSYRIS COTS (Commercial Off-The-Shelf) product suite that has a proven operational track record and has been designed based on ANSP (Air Navigation Service Provider) requirements and industry research. It increases the airports' capacities and reduces the controllers' workload by optimizing the traffic flow. It helps to make optimum use of the available resources and makes flight operations for the airlines more efficient. Flight profiles are improved and holding patterns avoided, which reduces environmental problems like pollution and noise. It ensures that the existing safety levels are maintained and even improved, because it considers separation requirements for the successive takeoffs at all planning stages. For the NATS project, Barco will tailor its field proven application software to meet the specific operational requirements and procedures of the five airports concerned. Thanks to its excellent portability and open interfaces, the OSYRIS Arrival Manager can be smoothly integrated with the current ATC (Air Traffic Control) system. 'Air traffic is rising at an incredible rate and this expansion will go on during the coming decades', says Frank Timmermans, Vice President worldwide of Barco's Traffic, Surveillance & Monitoring Division. 'With the rise of air traffic, it becomes more and more important for airports to ensure a smooth and efficient traffic flow. We're honored that Barco's arrival management software has been selected for the world's busiest and most dense airspace. This reinforces Barco's position as the leading supplier of Arrival Management (AMAN) solutions.' 'The Arrival Manager is another step on the path for NATS to improve efficiency and cut fuel burn and emissions', Chris Odam, NATS Director of Supply Chain Management explains. 'This tool will be invaluable to controllers in charge of some of the most complex airspace in the world over the London area airports. It will integrate with our operational systems to give us the means to smooth the flow of aircraft, reduce stacking and improve delay. We're working in collaboration with BARCO to tailor this product so it synchronizes with the special demands of the London Terminal Maneuver Area.' Barco's OSYRIS Arrival Manager has become the arrival management application of choice for air navigation service providers, research organizations and system integrators worldwide, including Eurocontrol, Skyguide Switzerland, Avinor Norway, CAD Hong Kong, CAA of Singapore, NAV Canada, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. The OSYRIS Arrival Manager forms the kernel of CALM, Skyguide's Computer-assisted Approach and Landing Management System, which went operational at Zurich's Kloten airport in March 2001. Most recently in July 2007, OSYRIS was selected by Hong Kong (CAD), and the system is already in trial operation. The Arrival Manager for the London area airports is expected to be fully operational in late 2008. |
