FREQUENTIS smartMessenger Set Operational in Luxembourg

ANA establishes an AMHS hub in the middle of the ICAO EURO/NAT region with Frequentis smartMessenger – an important link in the European AMHS network with a connection to Belgocontrol and a future connection with DFS.

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) mandated Air Navigation Services Providers to migrate their Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunication Network (AFTN) to Air Traffic Services Message Handling Systems (AMHS). ANA, the Air Navigation Services Provider of Luxembourg, being situated in one of the busiest flight regions, selected the Frequentis smartMessenger AMHS System due to its unrivalled performance and wide range of functionality. With the new Frequentis communication system ANA has established itself as an important link in the European AMHS network with its operational connections to Belgocontrol and future connection to DFS and is well prepared for growing demand of its services.

Frequentis has implemented the smartMessenger AMHS system in full compliance with ED-153, based on the strict European guidelines for ANS Software Safety Assurance. The Site Acceptance Tests (SAT) were successfully completed in December 2013 and included extensive AMHS Interoperability testing with the AMHS systems operated by Belgocontrol and DFS in full compliance with the ICAO EUR AMHS manual. After the completion of the SAT, ANA continued to test the system’s performance and then proceeded to place the system into operational use.

Marc Arend, technical project leader from CNS at ANA, states “ANA Luxembourg greatly appreciated the expertise and support of Frequentis during SAT, Interoperability (IOP) and Pre-operational (Pre-OP) tests. The new AMHS system is fulfilling the standard EUROCONTROL and ICAO requirements and even additional ANA requirements in a very cost-effective and user friendly way. Moreover smartMessenger is easily configurable and extendible. We are now looking eagerly forward to implement our second P1 connection with DFS/Germany.”

Nicole Peiffer, operational project leader from AIS at ANA added: “We appreciate the fast and professional cooperation with the Frequentis team in California even though we all had to work with a nine hour time difference. They were always working hard to accommodate our requests in making the smartMessenger Human Machine Interface (HMI) even more user-friendly remaining fully compliant with EUROCONTROL specifications like the use of the additional line for flight plan filing with Integrated Initial Flight Plan Processing System (IFPS).”