The Government authorises upgrading the air traffic control communications service for 42.4 million euros

At its meeting today, the Council of Ministers authorised the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility to tender a contract worth 42.2 million euros (excluding VAT) through ENAIRE to renew and modernise the air traffic control communication system and adapt it for data and voice transmission over IP.

This system provides air traffic management services with the highest guarantees and enhances operational safety and cybersecurity

This advances the IP digital protocol of the SACTA-iTEC air traffic control system, used by the national air navigation manager, to provide a homogeneous and scalable solution across all air traffic control centres that streamlines the operation and maintenance of the systems.

Thanks to this contract, the capacity and resilience of the air traffic control communication systems will be increased, ensuring service continuity for air navigation in Spain in coming years, with the highest guarantees, enhancing operational safety and protection in the field of cybersecurity. 

The project will last five years and it includes an infrastructure validation process and a phasing-in period that will not affect the service, since there will be redundant processes and equipment in place. The actions will be carried out at the Air Control Centres in Madrid, Barcelona, the Canary Islands, Palma, Seville, and the Málaga control tower, and at its Centre for Experimentation and Development in Madrid.

This renewal is driven by the technological evolution of the equipment and the impending end of its useful life, making its replacement necessary for greater resilience, while also enabling improvements in its architecture. This entire process is part of the Technological Modernisation and Digitisation plan laid out in ENAIRE's Strategic Plan (2025 Flight Plan).

New system architecture

This new architecture achieves offers excellent robustness, reliability, diversity and scalability characteristics, and it will provide a base for future functional upgrades to the SACTA-iTEC and COMETA systems. It also complies with European regulations, supporting the European Air Traffic Management Master Plan, which encompasses the Single European Sky regulations.

The project poses a significant technological challenge, as it requires replacing the systems that currently support operational communications without affecting the service provided.