INDRA Technology manages Air Traffic in Seoul and prepares Incheon Airport to reach 100 Million passengers

Indra technology manages all arriving and departing flights at the airports in Seoul, one of the cities boasting the highest air traffic in Asia. The company has modernized the approach control center, equipped the towers at the two international airports and shored up radar surveillance. 

This milestone is part of the work that Incheon International Airports Corporation (IIAC) has entrusted to Indra as part of the corporation's ambitious expansion plan already underway. The IIAC seeks to convert the capital city into East Asia's main air operations hub and the Incheon airport into one of the world's most important. 

As the corporation's main supplier of air traffic systems, Indra technology will have a key role in Incheon's ability to double its current passenger traffic tally of 50 million to 100 million in the next ten years. 

With Indra systems, controllers are capable of handling the double-digit annual traffic growth. The 3-runway Incheon airport will incorporate a new one for a total of 4 runways by 2020 and Indra's next-generation technology will be at the core of the enhanced safety and efficiency levels that the navigation service provider will provide airlines to buttress its appeal as a regional air operations center. 

As part of IIAC's efforts to reinforce its capabilities, Indra has just finished modernizing the approach control center that provides service to the city's civil airports (Incheon and Gimpo) and the Seoul Air Base. The company has equipped the center with next-generation automation systems and delivered backup systems capable of assuming control over operations in case of contingency at the main center. 

The company has also implemented its systems in the three control towers at the Incheon airport, and also at Gimpo airport tower. To render the work more agile, the company incorporated electronic files, replacing the paper files that the controllers had until now been using for noting flight data, and implemented a new arrival and departure management system (AMAN/DMAN) for efficiently optimizing runway use. 

Controllers also have more accurate information thanks to the new primary and secondary radars installed at Wangsan and Shinbul. 

Finally, Indra has delivered a simulator to support controller education and training, and an automatic maintenance bench for center and tower equipment. 

Incheon Airport has won the world’s best airport award for a record 12^th consecutive year, scoring last year 4.99 points out of 5. The award given by Airports Council International (ACI) also recognized Incheon airport as the best large airport, the best airport in Asia-Pacific and the best large-scale airport in Asia-Pacific. 

Indra has previously worked in South Korea and, in 2013, the company was selected to install a mode S secondary MSSR radar system at Jeju Airport to cover one of the world's busiest air routes: the Seoul-Jeju route.

The company has also supplied the IIAC Corporation with its navigation support systems (ILS, DME and DVOR) for assisting in landings and take-offs in low-visibility conditions and helping aircraft ascertain their position. 

An Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control System (A-SMGCS) -also known in Korea as Airport Surveillance Detection Equipment (ASDE) - is also being used for managing aircraft in the airfield and taxiing areas at the airport. This system enhances the airport's safety and capabilities to provide service in even the most difficult weather conditions, thus avoiding any need to reduce its capabilities. 

Indra is among the companies leading the modernization of air traffic management in the Asia-Pacific region, where traffic is growing more quickly than anywhere else in the world. Indra radars monitor 60% of Chinese airspace, and the Xi'an and Chengdu control centers use the company's technology to manage an airspace of 4.2 million km2 (eight times larger than Spanish airspace). In addition to Hong Kong and Beijing international airports, a score of national airports across the country use Indra systems. The company has undertaken major projects in Mongolia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia. The company also has a base in Australia and has undertaken major projects in radar surveillance and renovating the radio navigational systems covering the entire island continent.