COMSOFT completes Air Traffic Management upgrade for Oman

Public Authority For Civil Aviation – Oman (PACA-Oman) has successfully tested their Air Traffic Management (ATM) system with German expert COMSOFT, bringing improved functionality and uniformity to their air operations.

The upgrade of PACA-Oman’s existing COMSOFT message handling system, along with the installation of the German expert’s Aeronautical Information Management (AIM) system, CADAS will bring harmonisation to Oman’s Air Traffic Management, in line with their current airport expansions and goals for greater efficiency during capacity increases.

The sultanate of Oman, located on the Arabian Peninsula, holds a strategically important position bordering the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, while also sharing oceanic borders with Iran and Pakistan. Muscat international airport is currently upgrading its terminal to support 12 million passengers per year by 2016, while the countries second international airport, Salalah, has also reported steady air traffic increases, with flight movements doubling since 2007.

With Indra acting as the main contractor and Hill consultants as engineer, COMSOFT were able to test their AMHS and AIM solutions successfully, including market-leading message handling system, AIDA-NG, COMSOFT’s aeronautical data access product line CADAS – comprising of CADAS-ATS, CADAS-IMS and CADAS-EPS. Also included was ACCENT charting tool from partner RISK, CADAS-OMBX and core AIM database, CADAS-AIMDB, allowing for complete harmonisation and synchronisation of their Air Traffic services.

The ANSP of Oman has operated COMSOFT’s AMHS solution, AIDA-NG, since 2008 and in 2010 was part of the first Trilateral AMHS link when successfully connecting their system to air navigation service providers of Abu Dhabi, who also operates COMSOFT’s AIDA-NG, and Jordan. In June this year COMSOFT also successfully put in operation their AMHS systems at Salalah airport.

Training on all the included COMSOFT products commenced in October and November and will continue until December. The newly installed systems will then go operational early next year along with installation of the new CTC complex in Muscat. The previous AMHS system will also be relocated to the new CTC complex and upgraded in order to be used as contingency system.