Airservices awards Saab a contract to deploy Integrated Tower Automation Technology to four airports in Australia

Defence and security company Saab has received a contract from Airservices Australia to supply integrated air traffic tower automation technology to four airports. The contract will be in effect from 2014-2017 and is valued at SEK 130 million with additional future support options.

Under the agreement, Saab will supply a fully harmonised suite of modern air traffic control tools to Australian airports; Brisbane, Cairns, Gold Coast and Perth. Saab had previously deployed the tower automation system to four other Australian airports during the first phase of Airservices’ National Towers Technology Program. Saab is the prime contractor for the program, with NAV CANADA and Frequentis as suppliers.

“Saab has a long history of deploying air traffic control technologies to Airservices that improve the safety and efficiency of flight. This new contract will extend our partnership and bring an industry-leading air traffic control tower system to four major airports that are experiencing a growth in air traffic,” says Anders Carp, Head of Saab’s business unit Traffic Management.

The tower automation system is a fully harmonised suite of Air Traffic Control (ATC) tools that provides Airservices’s controllers with a common, modern set of key ATC systems and capabilities in a single customisable platform. The architecture supports any tower position and is fully scalable to any size tower, from small regional airports to major international hubs.

Development and production will take place in Syracuse (USA) and Australia.

Interview with Anders Carp, Head of Saab’s business unit Traffic Management.