Technology upgrade to make Mumbai ATC national gateway

Mumbai: In a move that will catapult Mumbai—and India—in the league of aviation biggies, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has roped in German Air Traffic Control (ATC) specialists COMSOFT to undertake the installation of an aeronautical message handling system (AMHS) at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.
The AMHS—used to relay flight plans, meteorological data, emergency messages, etc as a flight is transferred from one ATC centre to another—will be a dedicated data network connecting air traffic control centres across the globe. It is a new, refined and superior technology over the currently used aeronautical fixed telecommunication network (AFTN).
While the functionality of the AFTN—implemented in the ’70s—is so limited that it can at the most carry text with a maximum of 1,800 characters, the AMHS can carry any kind of digital information including text, graphics, images, files, databases, audio and video.
The move to replace the obsolete AFTN has been underway since March 2005 when AMHS service was established between Japan and USA.
11/08/07 Lekha Agarwal/Mumbai Newsline

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Categories: Airports Aug 2007, Foreign Aug 2007, Safety Aug 2007