DFS Aviation Services and Indra implement new air traffic management system in Bahrain

On October 5th 2022 at 07:30 pm UTC, the new state of the art Indra system went live at Bahrain Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications’ Civil Aviation Affairs (CAA) facilities smooth and without any interruptions. DFS Aviation Services (DAS) and Indra conducted a transition pre-planning phase with operational trials and operator training before going live beginning of the month.

DFS Aviation Services and engineering technology company Indra have worked together to ensure a perfect transition to a system that brings CAA a new whole range of functionalities to manage flights with greater precision and strength coordination with other control centers in the region.
The flight GFA 504 departing from Bahrain at 07:15pm UTC for Dubai was the number one on frequency. This system implementation was executed in time before major airspace changes are made. Due to the special events in 2022 such as Bahrain International Airshow and the FIFA Worldcup a lot of traffic was handled by Bahrain Flight Information Region (FIR).

The DFS Group has gained profound experience and knowledge in managing different kinds of transitions over the past few decades. The final step of the software transition still remains one of the most crucial moments in the deployment of a new air traffic control center, when the air traffic control system finally begins to manage real air traffic.

Mortiz Manzel, Transition Manager from DAS highlights: “We are very pleased that we executed this transition smoothly together with our partner Indra.” His colleague Björn Dürrbeck, also involved in the transition as Project Manager, adds the following: “We both like to thank everyone involved - CAA, Indra, DFS Group - this is definitely an achievement for all of us”.

Jesús Fernández Ocaña, Indra Middle East ATM Director, said “Turning the sky of Bahrain into one of the safest and most efficient in the world has been a task that could only be achieved
through trust and collaboration. CAA, DFS Aviation Services and Indra have formed the best team possible for the success of this project.”

Every day, air traffic users going through the Bahrain FIR will have a reliable partner on the ground, working with the most efficient air traffic management system.