Saudi Arabia Selects Sensis A-SMGCS and WAM for King Fahad and King Abdulaziz International Airports

Advanced - Surface Movement Guidance and Control Systems and Wide Area Multilateration to Enhance Safety and Increase Capacity

EAST SYRACUSE, NY - May 19, 2009 - The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) of Saudi Arabia has selected Sensis Corporation for deployment of Advanced - Surface Movement Guidance and Control Systems (A-SMGCS) and Wide Area Multilateration (WAM) systems for King Abdulaziz International Airport (Jeddah) and King Fahad International Airport (Dammam). Both airports will enhance safety by using A-SMGCS to view aircraft and vehicles on the ground. The multilateration subsystem of the A-SMGCS systems will be expanded to provide the airports with WAM for safe and efficient separation of aircraft in the terminal approach coverage area. Additionally, the airports will use Sensis VeeLo NextGen™ vehicle locator units for tracking and identification of vehicles on the airport surface.

Sensis A-SMGCS fuses data from multiple surveillance sources, including Sensis Multistatic Dependent Surveillance (MDS) multilateration, Sensis solid state SMRi X-band radar and VeeLo NextGen vehicle locator units, to deliver accurate and highly reliable data. Further, the A-SMGCS includes advanced conflict detection and alerting through audible and visual alerts. The WAM surveillance component of the system will be integrated into the A-SMGCS to track and separate aircraft on approach up to 50 nautical miles from the airport.

“Sensis has the experience to provide us with a fully integrated system that meets the high accuracy surveillance required for both airports,” said Engr. Mohammed A. Al-Salmi, vice president, Air Navigation Services, GACA. “The integrated A-SMGCS and WAM approach also simplifies our training, reduces maintenance costs and gives us the ability to easily adapt the systems to meet any future airport needs.”

“The General Authority of Civil Aviation has taken a novel approach by integrating and simultaneously deploying A-SMGCS and WAM applications,” said Tony Lo Brutto, vice president and general manager of Sensis Air Traffic Systems. “This is a very cost-effective solution that will provide air traffic controllers with seamless, highly accurate surveillance from the surface to the terminal area around both airports. Additionally, since each multilateration sensor supports Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B), the airports can seamlessly transition to ADS-B at the appropriate time without deploying new equipment.”

Today, Sensis’ customers are using its A-SMGCS solution at 18 airports around the world and the company’s multilateration is the most field-proven system in the industry, with approximately 100 sites worldwide using the technology.

A pioneer in WAM, Sensis WAM is operational at Innsbruck Airport, Austria; 29 Palms Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, California; and the U.S. Navy Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Maryland. Further, Sensis WAM is being deployed at Yuma Proving Grounds, Arizona; Colorado and Juneau, Alaska; Tasmania and Sydney Airport, Australia; Vancouver Harbor and Ft. St. John, Canada; North Sea, United Kingdom; and Detroit Metro Wayne County Airport, Michigan.

ABOUT SENSIS CORPORATION
Sensis Corporation provides sensors, information technology, and simulation and modeling to the world’s air navigation service providers, civil aviation authorities, airports, airlines and militaries. Sensis Corporation solutions are deployed around the world. For more information regarding Sensis Corporation, visit www.sensis.com.

ABOUT SAUDI ARABIA GENERAL AUTHORITY OF CIVIL AVIATION
The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) is the authorized entity that is responsible for air transport regulations, airport operations and the provision of air navigation services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). GACA is currently undergoing a major transition to become a fully independent organization operating on a commercial basis. The Council of Ministers has approved the transformation of the ANS strategic business unit to an independent company with its own board of directors.

In 2007 more than 40 million passengers utilized GACA airports and more than 700,000 flights operated in the KSA airspace, up by 15% compared to 2006.

GACA has launched major projects to upgrade its air navigation system to meet airspace user demand while maintaining the highest level of aviation safety. Two new ACCs are planned to start operation in first quarter of 2009. For more information, visit www.gaca.gov.sa.

Contact
Rob Conrad
Sr. Public Relations Specialist
Sensis
315-634-3139 (office)
315-751-3646 (mobile)
rconrad@sensis.com

Liability for the content of the news assumed by the issuer.

ICAS Member Map

Member Log-in

 

TOP