ENAIRE will invest 9.5 million euros to transfer and virtualise air traffic control systems supported by Voice over IP

At its meeting today, ENAIRE's Board of Directors approved an open procedure tender (as per Royal Decree-Law 3/2020) to transfer and supply the automated air traffic control systems (SACTA) and integrated digital voice systems (COMETA) to the new technical building of the Madrid Air Control Centre, at an estimated cost of €9,512,814.00 (excluding taxes), with a 24-month delivery period out to 2025. This action is part of the agency's strategic Technological Modernization Plan.

This building is currently being set up and will be available this year for air traffic control training and contingencies. With 2,000 m 2 per floor, it will house equipment rooms, training classrooms and air traffic control simulators. It will also house ENAIRE's Network Services and Supervision Center - SYSRED H24.

These systems are used to manage air traffic, for simulations and operational training environments for controllers and pseudo-pilots, as well as for new communications architectures

This approved contract includes the removal, relocation, re-installation and commissioning of the servers that provide service to ENAIRE's air traffic control systems, such as SACTA and COMETA, and the provision of training at the Madrid Control Centre. The actions will be carried out at the Control Center in Madrid, Barcelona and at ENAIRE's Center for Experimentation and Development, and include new communications and virtualization architectures with the highest security standards.

It will also serve to meet the growing training needs for personnel who manage en-route, terminal maneuvering area and control tower airspace. Twelve simulators will be virtualised, which will be installed in ENAIRE's private cloud for air traffic management services, located in the Madrid and Barcelona control centres, together with an 8-position, 180º control tower simulator from GammaSim, ENAIRE's training platform.

This investment will also allow the current pseudo-pilot platform, which supports controller training, to be expanded and renewed in order to standardize it with the new equipment. It also includes all of the associated hardware and servers needed to commission the equipment, with their relevant testing, training and technical documentation.

Air navigation data network

Elsewhere, ENAIRE's Board of Directors today awarded Telefónica Soluciones de Informática y Comunicaciones de España, SAU, using an open procedure tender (Royal Decree-Law 3/2020), a technical support contract worth €7,139,500 to provide technical support for the operation of the air navigation data network (REDAN). The contract duration is 36 months.

The REDAN system carries voice and data between different air navigation users in Spain, such as pilots and air traffic controllers, and it carries the information on radar surveillance, aeronautical and navigation services such as navaids, and from stations in the European EGNOS satellite surveillance system .

This network consists of an infrastructure based on the Internet protocol (IP) that, in addition to allowing the incorporation of future developments and needs related to data exchange, also integrates voice over IP (VoIP) to carry air traffic control voice communications. It is also interconnected with other networks (European, AEMET and Ministry of Defence).

Furthermore, it provides coverage at all the sites that send or receive data relating to the various applications of the Air Navigation System (SNA): air traffic control centers, airports, air bases, radars, communication centers, and more.