The Government authorises a contract for nearly 48 million euros to operate the systems that support air traffic management in Spain

At its meeting today, the Council of Ministers authorised the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda (MITMA) to contract the operational support for the systems that aid with air traffic management in Spain for a total of 47,991,076 euros (taxes not included). ENAIRE, the national air navigation service provider, is taking this step as part of its Strategic Plan, the 2025 Flight Plan.

The aim is to receive technical advice on the specialised technical operation of the following ENAIRE systems: the Automated Air Traffic Control System (SACTA); the presentation of flight plans through the ICARO platform; and the entire network of radar and voice communications systems between air traffic controllers, and between controllers and aircraft pilots. The SACTA system is the air traffic control system installed in every traffic control unit (terminal area, approach, and control tower), and has been developed by the company INDRA.

This is a negotiated procedure, with no disclosure or competition due to technical and exclusivity reasons involving the systems in question. The duration of the service provision will be 36 months, with an investment of 28.8 million euros (28,794,645 euros), taxes not included. It may be extended by two one-year periods for a maximum of two years, in which case the amount would rise to the aforementioned figure of 47,991,076 euros (taxes not included).

Scope of the activity
This activity is intended to provide specialised support for the systems that aid in providing air traffic services, as a complement to the technical operating activities carried out by ENAIRE's own technical and engineering staff, at its five en route and approach control centres, throughout its radar network and at every Spanish airport.

All of this is aimed at guaranteeing the perfect operation and the highest availability rates of the following ENAIRE systems:

• Equipment (hardware and software) that makes up the SACTA at every control centre and aerodrome facility.
• Perimeter security systems for the physical security and cybersecurity of the SACTA system.
• System for receiving and processing flight plans for aircraft flying in Spanish airspace, and for processing all the meteorological and aeronautical information needed to manage their movements (ICARO).
• Surveillance systems (ENAIRE radar network) present throughout Spain, as well as their associated data management and displaysystems.
• Voice communication systems for communications between air traffic controllers, and between controllers and pilots.

Support for the operation of these systems is expected to be provided through an operation assistance service that supplies the material and human resources needed for the services to be rendered with the quality levels required by the applicable national, European and international
regulations.

These services must cover the equipment and systems they are intended to support, and will be operational at the start of the contract and throughout its period of validity.