Georgia’s air navigation service provider Sakaeronavigatsia is marking its 25th anniversary by opening a new air traffic control (ATC) office and a training center at Tbilisi International Airport, equipped with state-of-the-art technology.
Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili congratulated Sakaeronavigatsia officials and said this was another step forward to increase flight safety and to develop the ATC industry in Georgia, which was directly related to development of aviation, tourism and, in general, of economy in the country.
“I am truly proud that in 2014 as a Minister of Economy I was honored to launch such an important project. These offices that have opened today completely meet international standards and requirements. This day is another step forward to improving flight safety and air industry in Georgia”, said Kvirikashvili.
Kvirikashvili said that for the country, which intended to be established as a transit hub, it was important to become attractive in air transport field for the partner countries.
“As you know, the European air borders have been starting from Georgia since 2014. We all are proud that Georgia is one of the best tourist destinations in Europe and we all see the record increase in tourist numbers in our country. Interest of foreign air companies also significantly improves towards Georgia”, said Kvirikashvili.
The need to build a new ATC Center and to equip it with the modern system was caused by unprecedented growth of air traffic in the airspace of Georgia. In 2017 the loading of airspace was increased by 13% and the growth trend would be maintained in forthcoming years, according to the forecast of Eurocontrol.
A new modern system, manufactured by Indra is installed in the new ATC Center of Tbilisi, and the voice communication is provided by S.I.T.T.I. S.p.A. system. The new system of Indra will have dual protection, which will be activated in seconds in case of problem and this process will be a completely unnoticed procedure for the air traffic controllers. The new system of Indra will have a third additional protection, a reserve independent from system, installed in Kutaisi, which completely excludes delay in the working process.
“Switching to a new ATC system will enable Sakaeronavigatsia to introduce even more innovations. Indra’s new system will give the company an opportunity to move from the existing two-sector level to three-sector level, which will further increase the capacity of the airspace of Georgia. It will also become possible to activate so called upper sector, where aircrafts of transit or distant routes are flying, which will also be an innovation for the Georgian aviation” stated Gocha Mezvrishvili, Director General of Sakaeronavigatsia. (Agenda/Business World Magazine)