Human activities are increasingly dependent on air transport, and a steady growth in this sector is necessary in order to support today’s economic growth globally. To accommodate this increase in air traffic demand, air traffic systems must radically change from the current solutions.
Future air traffic control operation will require increased collaboration among airspace users like air navigation service providers (ANSP), airport operators, airlines, aircrafts and authorities. To accomplish this ambitious goal, air traffic management (ATM) modernisation programmes have been established worldwide to develop concepts and technologies.
Forthcoming systems will operate in the system-wide information management (SWIM) concept, and will be supported by information exchange standards currently under development. The International Civil Aviation Organisation’s Global Air Navigation Plan (ICAO 2013) strives to develop a harmonised global ATM system.
SWIM platform
The SWIM concept consists of standards, infrastructure and governance to assure that the right information is available to the right person at the right time (the SWIM solution). SWIM transforms ATM information management, enabling information to be shared among ANSP, airport operators, airlines, aircrafts, military and civil authorities, and flow management centres.
A SWIM platform – like the one Atech in responsible for in Brazil – enhances collaboration among airport operators, airlines and ANSP, guiding them all to the same situation awareness, as well as supporting them to make collaborative decisions aimed at predicting the calculated take-off time (CTOT) and calculated time of arrival (CTOA) as accurately as possible.
Under the umbrella of the Atech SWIM platform, the integration of airport collaborative decision-making (A-CDM) systems to air traffic flow management (ATFM) systems is another key to obtaining the most accurate CTOT and CTOA. If the variables inside the ‘airport world’ feed an ATFM system with up-to-date information, and vice-versa, stakeholders will also have the same situation awareness, allowing them to take the most efficient collaborative decisions during their daily routines. Atech is the current ATFM system provider for Brazil and India.
SWIM capabilities: gate-to-gate flights
The Atech SWIM platform also aims to provide singular information for gate-to-gate flights. This means that approaching and en route control centres shall also be part of the SWIM cloud, as they manage flights in a tactical context. Therefore, they will publish and consume information to/from the platform, and – as foreseen by the SWIM concept – stakeholders will have equal access to information, ensuring that all have up-to-date data.
Atech is responsible for developing and deploying the ATM system in Brazil, and five en route centres and more than 20 approaching centres are powered by the Atech ATM system.
