Following contract award to Saab Sensis Corporation for the supply of a Multilateration (MLAT) system and vehicle transponders, Manchester Airport has appointed local contractors to undertake the required equipment installations. The new equipment will be fused with an upgraded Radar Data Processor (RDP) to fulfil the requirements of the ASMGCS ‘Surveillance Service’ specification as defined by Eurocontrol.
This phase of the works is expected to complete July 2019. On completion, Manchester Airport will be working in partnership with its Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP), NATS Services Limited and ATM industry leaders Indra Navia to progress development and implementation of the ASMGCS ‘Airport Safety Support Service’. The aim is to contribute to airside operations as a safety improvement, preventing hazards/incidents resulting from controller, flight crew or vehicle driver operational errors or deviations. The following three functional areas are being targeted for at Manchester Airport are:
- Runway Monitoring and Conflict Alerting (RMCA)– This is a short-term conflict alerting tool for controllers that monitors movements on or near the runway and detects conflicts between an aircraft and another mobile
- Conflicting ATC Clearances (CATC)– This provides an alert when the controller inputs an electronic clearance via the HMI, that according to a set of locally agreed rules is not permitted from an operational and safety point of view when compared to any other previously input electronic clearance.
- Conformance Monitoring Alerts for Controllers (CMAC) – Provides controllers with appropriate alerts when the ASMGCS detects the non-conformance to procedures or clearances for traffic on runways, taxiways and on the apron area.
The AMGCS project is being co-funded by the EU’s Innovation and Networks Executive Agency, INEA supported by SESAR Deployment Manager. Manchester Airport is implementating ASMGCS in partnership with 14 other airports and ANSPs under the European SESAR Deployment Airport Grouping (SDAG).
