New Zealand’s air navigation service provider (ANSP) Airways New Zealand has appointed French electronic systems company Thales to deliver automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) network across the country.

The network will include 28 locations equipped with ADS-B ground stations in a bid to attain the required coverage and ensure operational excellence.

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The project will help provide optimum air traffic surveillance in areas with limited radar coverage, which include Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, and much a larger part of the west coast of South Island.

Airways New Zealand chief operating officer Pauline Lamb said: “The network will provide a more detailed picture of our airspace than is currently possible with radar.”

The new programme will also help reduce carbon emissions across New Zealand.

"The network will provide a more detailed picture of our airspace than is currently possible with radar."

Thales has secured the contract from Airways New Zealand after an international tender and a series of trials.

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Thales Air Traffic Management Activities vice-president Jean-Marc Alias said: “This selection by Airways New Zealand for their nationwide ADS-B network is a very important milestone for Thales.

“Airways New Zealand is one of the most efficient ANSPs in the world and being selected for such a comprehensive implementation of ADS-B technology underlines our leading role in this area.”

Airways New Zealand is responsible for monitoring air traffic across the country.

So far, the ANSP has reduced in-flight delays from three minutes to less than 23s, thereby saving NZD$16m ($11.36m) in airline fuel every year.

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