Park Air Systems has signed an agreement to supply its advanced-surface movement guidance and control systems (A-SMGCS) to Beijing Capital International Airport. The system will help Beijing controllers keep a better eye on their ground traffic.
General sales manager Oivind Klausen says: “Beijing controllers will now have more information on ground movements, and can become more efficient because they will always know the exact position of every aircraft that is using the airport taxiways and aprons. In the past there have been accidents caused by pilots mistakenly reporting the wrong position – with A-SMGCS a controller can double check the pilots report. In poor weather and visibility conditions it can help increase the ground traffic flow.”
The system will also feature built in Runway Incursion Safety Logic to give controllers extra safety margins. A-SMGCS uses surface movement radars for ground tracking; Beijing’s setup will use three of these. It also has Mode S Multilateration sensors for better identification and tracking for the departure and in-bound phases.
“Beijing’s system also has the capability to integrate with airfield ground lighting, which can give an aircraft leading lights to help navigation at night or in poor visibility,” says Klausen.
Elsewhere in the region Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Guangzhou already use the same system and Klausen belives smaller airports with bottlenecks are now becoming able to utilise the equipment. He says that it is high-tech and low-priced and not only affordable for the large airports.
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