How would you describe the air traffic market in the Middle East?
 

The Middle East is widely regarded as the world’s most ambitious aviation region. According to IATA, the region is forecast to grow strongly with a compound annual growth rate of 4.4%, and will see an extra 290 million passengers on routes to, from and within the region by 2037.

In February 2019 Boeing reported that the Middle East will drive more than 8 percent of global demand for aviation services through to 2037, and nearly 218,000 new personnel – 60,000 pilots, 63,000 technicians, and 95,000 cabin crew – will be needed in the Middle East over the next 20 years. In this era of growth, air navigation service providers face a critical challenge to meet demand for air traffic controllers. Globally, 125,000 new ATCOs will be required by 2037 – in order to meet this demand, ANSPs want high volume, low risk ATC training options, and more choice in how training is delivered.

As training providers we need to ensure we redefine our thinking, and our training models, to meet these needs – and fully prepare the next generation of air traffic controllers for the ever-changing aviation environment.

 

What technologies do you predict will impact air navigation in the next five years? 
 

The next five years are an exciting time in air navigation as numerous technologies continue to mature and are brought into service.  The introduction of a space based augmentation system (SBAS) on a regional basis, has the potential to significantly reduce the number of ground based navigation aids that the aviation environment of the future will require.  This will not only have the effect of allowing precision approaches to CAT I minima for every runway, it will also have a significant impact on the cost for those services,  as the need for ground based installations and associated maintenance and checking schedules reduces.

Digital tower technology has reached the point where there is a proven, certifiable alternative to building physical towers.  The technology not only allows for the consolidation of towers into regional hubs, which leads to greater resilience and efficiency, but also enables the introduction of a safety net, similar to radar environments, into the aerodrome environment.  Artificial intelligence that can detect movement on an aerodrome, monitor runway occupancy, predict circuit conflictions and other safety enhancements will be introduced to assist air traffic controllers in their decision-making processes.  Future technologies to detect and track unmanned aerial vehicles are developing now and will be essential for the integration of these aircraft into a future aviation environment.
 

Drones and their integration into the existing aviation system will be a significant impact on the industry as a whole. Today, drones are viewed as an impediment and not a viable and sophisticated aviation participant.  This view will need to change given the exponential growth of drones to ensure safe and efficient integration.

Key technologies to enable this integration include UAV Traffic Management (UTM), and the ability to detect-and-avoid (DAA) drones and make their location visible to other aviation participants.  For more advanced operations, both UTM and DAA as well as command-and-control (C2) will be required to enable drones to fly beyond-line-of-sight (BVLOS).

 

What learnings from your experiences in New Zealand can be applied to air traffic in the Middle East?
 

The New Zealand environment benefits from having very close collaboration between all stakeholders across the industry.  This means that it is easy to align the needs of airlines, airports and the ANSP, to ensure collaboration and sharing of data which leads to system efficiency.  A collaborative approach to flow management and A-CDM produces significant system wide benefits, and all parties have full visibility of events that are likely to disrupt or delay the normal flow of traffic.  The Middle Eastern region would benefit from greater regional cooperation and data sharing, to alleviate some of the capacity challenges the region is facing.  

Safely integrating drones into the existing aviation system is a primary concern for all ANSPs.  Airways has taken significant steps forward in this space over the past couple of years, and   we have learned many lessons learned along the way which we will be sharing with ANSPs at GATM 2019.

 

Can you tell us about Airways New Zealand? 
 

Airways New Zealand is a future-focused and innovative commercial air navigation service provider (ANSP), looking after key aviation infrastructure around New Zealand and managing more than 1 million traffic movements per year into and around New Zealand’s 30 million square kilometres of airspace.  We work with partners to provide global aviation customers with safe, integrated airspace management through our proactive safety culture, expert knowledge and technology enabled solutions.

Airways International, the commercial arm of Airways New Zealand provides training, digital products, aeronautical information management, procedure design and aviation consultancy services globally to ANSPs, airlines and airports. We partner with airports, governments, aviation technology suppliers and other ANSPs to develop future-ready innovative procedures and air traffic management (ATM) solutions to help reduce the environmental footprint of the aviation industry.

Airshare (Airways’ UTM subsidiary), in partnership with Exponent Technology Services, offers a complete national drone management solution which facilitates safe integration of drones into the aviation system, as well as enables humanitarian and commercial opportunities for drone operations.  Our UTM solution is a cloud-based and scalable environment which can be customised for specific national requirements.

Air traffic is reaching a crucial point in terms of capacity. What do you consider the main opportunities and challenges currently facing the market?
 

It is widely accepted that the largest challenge our industry faces is a combination of rising demand and limited capacity.  This is recognised in many areas of the aviation sector – ground and airport infrastructure are limited at peak times, airspace and runway capacity cannot cope with the increasing demand for travel, and the ability of humans to manage the number of aircraft that wish to operate is approaching its maximum limit.  This provides a great opportunity for innovative solutions and new approaches to problems, as the industry continues to look for solutions that will support continued growth. 

Recent developments such as the recategorisation of wake turbulence and time-based separation standards have helped increase runway capacities, however challenges around airspace are not so easily solved.  Better airspace sharing arrangements with military authorities are needed to maximise the capacity of airspaces, and reduced separation standards through the use of technologies such as space-based ADS-B, or through flight deck interval management must continue to be explored to provide much needed capacity enhancement.
 

At the same time, the impact of aviation on climate change is becoming a more contemporary issue for the industry.  Greater social awareness and visibility of the need to adopt sustainable practices is becoming paramount for our industry and is likely to grow in significance over the coming decade.  This creates further opportunities for innovative solutions to reduce airborne holding, deliver shorter arrival and approach paths and reduce engine usage on the ground.
 

How is Airways New Zealand in particular preparing to meet these opportunities and challenges?
 

Airways New Zealand has a long history of being at the forefront of new technologies and being part of the thought leadership for future developments. We are currently investing heavily in creating a single virtual ATC centre spread across two widely spaced geographical locations to enhance resilience and  capacity.  Airspace will be transferable between the two centres to best match capacity with demand, and in the event of a major natural disaster or system unavailability, either location can operate on an independent basis. Airways has commissioned two digital tower solutions as a development path to widespread deployment of the technology to all airports across New Zealand in the future. 

We recognise the efficiencies that can be achieved form these technologies, as well as the significant safety benefits that the digitisation of an aerodrome environment can provide.  Most importantly though, Airways is leading the industry in developing and implementing solutions that will allow future airspace users to operate in a safe and commercially viable way.  We have facilitated projects such as high altitude balloon launches, the regular launching of rockets into low –earth orbits, and a UTM that provides all airspace users with tracking and airspace information to create a safe operating environment for UAVs.  Airways is committed to creating an aviation environment for the future that will provide opportunities for all current and future users. 
 

At Global Air Traffic Management 2018 you discussed defining and recruiting the future air traffic controller as well as participating in ANSP panels. Can you give us an overview of what you will be presenting at 2019?
 

We’ll be sharing our over five years of experience in UTM in New Zealand.  From a basic flight information service in controlled airspace to a national UTM ecosystem, where cooperative drones can be tracked and communicated with in live flight.  We’ll share examples of UTM traffic management, airport safety and drone infrastructure.  We’ll also be sharing how we worked with broader government and industry stakeholders to bring our national UTM ecosystem to life.

To find out more about the GATM (Global Air Traffic Control) 2019 event, visit our website.