DOTr to install new air traffic system in September

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Sunday said the government would be installing by September a new air traffic monitoring system that would cover the country’s entire airspace by the end of this year.

In a statement, the DOTr said the new Communications Navigation Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) would ensure definite air travel, established aircraft identification and guaranteed air passenger safety and security.

The satellite-based CNS/ATM will be turned over by September to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap), an attached agency of the DOTr.

The DOTr said the CNS/ATM project was started in 2009, but due to delays in construction and other challenges, it did not hit its target completion in 2016.

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade earlier ordered the Caap to fast track the project.

The DOTr said the CNS/ATM system was still in “parallel operations” with the existing air traffic technology before going fully operational by December 2017.

For now, the country is covered by 13 ground-based air traffic radars installed by the Caap, covering only 85 percent of the entire Philippine airspace.

Last year, the country only had three air traffic radars covering only 30 percent of the country’s airspace.