NAVCANatm Technology Managing Critical Flight Data in Dubai Airport Towers

Air traffic controllers in two of Dubai's airports are now using technology developed by NAVCANatm - NAV CANADA's air traffic management technologies division - to manage critical flight data.

The advanced electronic flight strips system - known as NAVCANstrips - went operational on July 1, 2012 at the Dubai International Airport Control Tower and Dubai World Central Control Tower. Dubai is one of the busiest airport hubs in the world, and continues to experience significant traffic growth.

NAVCANstrips allows air traffic controllers to manage flight data online with a touch-screen application, eliminating the need for traditional paper flight strips. It provides immediate access to key information, and permits more efficient management and use of airspace and airport capacity. Flight data transactions are automated and can be configured to generate flow management statistics and other information.

NAV CANADA was selected by the Engineering Projects group of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA-EP) to install NAVCANstrips, in March of 2011. Technology development and installation work was done in conjunction with DCAA-EP and controllers of the Dubai Air Navigation Service Provider (DANS), to tailor the system to the operating environments of each airport.

"Electronic flight strips not only provide immediate efficiency benefits to our operations," said Yousuf Pirzada, Vice President, Engineering DCAA-EP. "But this technology also provides a strong foundation to be able to respond to the future development and growth of our world-class airport operations."

"We are pleased to see our advanced technology go live at Dubai's airports," said John Crichton, NAV CANADA President and CEO. "The combined effort of NAV CANADA and DANS resulted in a system well adapted to these operational environments, and a smooth and timely deployment. I am confident that this technology will bring important safety and efficiency gains to Dubai airports and their customers."

Services provided by NAV CANADA to the DCAA-EP include software interface development, system adaptation, system installation and operational and maintenance training.

"Electronic flight strips provide significant benefits to our air traffic control operations," said Peter Mohring, Director Air Traffic Services, DANS. "They have improved our tower coordination by providing access to important flight information across our system, while allowing us to realize efficiency gains."

NAVCANstrips, part of a line of proven, trusted and applied products known as NAVCANsuite, is in operation at more than 70 Canadian sites, and has been adopted internationally by the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Australia, with additional projects underway in Hong Kong and the Netherland Antilles.

At each site, NAVCANatm systems have facilitated efficiency and safety gains benefiting both airports and airlines. With the Dubai deployment, NAVCANstrips is now successfully operational on four continents.

Dubai International Airport is ranked amongst the busiest in the world in terms of international passengers according to Airports Council International. The airport serves more than 130 airlines flying to over 220 destinations across six continents.

Dubai World Central Airport opened in June of 2010 and, when completed, will be the world's largest passenger and cargo hub with a capacity of up to 160 million passengers and more than 12 million tonnes of cargo annually.

As Canada's private sector civil air navigation services provider, with operations from coast to coast to coast, NAV CANADA provides air traffic control, flight information, weather briefings, aeronautical information services, airport advisory services and electronic aids to navigation. NAVCANatm is a leading line of integrated air traffic management products, applications and services operationally deployed at over 80 sites worldwide for safe, efficient and cost-effective air traffic management.