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