Instructors Complete Training on Australia’s Advanced Control Tower System

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – 28 June 2011 – The instructors who will train air traffic controllers in the operation of Australia’s state of the art control tower automation system have completed their training in Melbourne.  Five ATC instrutors from across the country attended the “train the trainer” course in June at Airservices Australia’s Learning Academy in Melbourne.

The system know as INTAS, or Integrated Tower Automation Suite, will be installed in 4 new control towers currently under construction at Adelaide, Broome, Melbourne and Rockhampton.  The cutting edge system is being supplied under a contract awarded to Sensis Corporation and strategic partner NAV CANADA.

INTAS is scalable and adaptable sytem designed to support sites ranging from major international airports to general aviation facilities.  All suites will interface with The Australian Advanced Air Traffic System (TAAATS) – Australia’s Terminal, En Route and Oceanic control system.

The new control tower system is a leap forward in integration, human machine interface (HMI), safety, decision support, and data sharing.  The system provides air traffic controllers with a fully integrated, “glass tower” solution – coupling flight data, air and surface surveillance, weather, aeronautical information and voice communications at a common tower workstation.

Brolair International is providing program support and operational advice to the prime contractor, Sensis Corporation, East Syracuse, New York.

Australia’s New Control Towers Will Feature Advanced ATC Automation Systems

Airservices Australia is embarking on a multi-year program to transform its air traffic management infrastructure with plans that include construction or refurbishment of up to 27 air traffic control towers and the modernisation of its air traffic management tools by introducing new control tower automation suites.

Four new control towers are currently under construction at Melbourne, Adelaide, Rockhampton and Broome airports.  These new towers will feature cutting edge air traffic management systems supplied under a contract to Sensis Corporation and strategic partner NAV CANADA.

The systems know as INTAS, or Integrated Tower Automation Suite, are scalable and adaptable in order to support sites ranging from major international airports to general aviation facilities.  All suites will interface with The Australian Advanced Air Traffic System (TAAATS) – Australia’s Terminal, En Route and Oceanic control system.

INTAS is a leap forward in integration, human machine interface (HMI), safety, decision support, and data sharing.  The system provides air traffic controllers with a fully integrated, “glass tower” solution – coupling flight data, air and surface surveillance, weather, aeronautical information and voice communications at a common tower workstation.

Brolair International is working closely with Sensis by providing program support and operational advice to the project team.

Brolair Providing Aviation Safety Assistance in Indonesia

Brolair International has been engaged to conduct aviation safety-related studies and reviews under the Australian Government-funded Indonesia Transport Safety Assistance Package (ITSAP).

The ITSAP Project is helping to strengthen the capacity of Indonesian authorities to regulate and enforce higher safety standards within their aviation and maritime sectors.

Australia’s Advanced Control Tower Concepts Take Shape

The fundamental design of Australia’s next generation of air traffic control towers has been completed in Melbourne under a contract awarded to a team led by Sensis and NAV CANADA.

The collaborative design effort involving engineering, technical and  air traffic control specialists from both Airservices Australia and the Sensis Project Team took place over several months and will form the baseline for a world-leading system know as INTAS, or Integrated Tower Automation Suite.

INTAS, for the first time, amalgamates all control tower functions into a single, integrated system that presents relevant information on common operator workstations in the tower cab.  The integrated capabilities include:

  • Air and surface surveillance
  • Flight data (virtual flight progress strips)
  • Air-ground and ground-ground communications
  • Weather radar and airport meteorological information
  • Textual and graphical aeronautical information
  • Digital Airport Terminal Information Service
  • Pre-Departure Clearance
  • Airport facilities and navigation aid monitoring
  • Airport lighting control
  • Tower cab environment and security controls

Integration of all these functions into a standard, configurable workstation with a common operator interface ends the proliferation of various standalone monitors, keyboards, strip bays and control panels that clutter today’s tower cabs.  

Virtual flight progress strips, automated flight information exchange and intuitive touch-screen technology eliminates the need for paper strips and significantly reduces verbal coordination.

Brolair International is providing project support, advice and guidance into the design and implementation of the INTAS air traffic control functions and computer-human interface.

Brolair Joins Sensis Team

Brolair International is working closely with Sensis Corporation of East Syracuse, New York to provide operational advice and program assistance for a growing range of air traffic surveillance and automation solutions.

Sensis is a global supplier of air traffic surveillance solutions including Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control Systems, Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast transceivers, Multilateration Surveillance , and real-time collaborative decision making tools for airline and airport operations.