A new air traffic management equipment has been installed at the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to enhance safe air travel.
The new air traffic equipment will replace an old and archaic version which was in use for 16 years.
According to the aviation industry, not only will the new system enhance safe air travel but will boost the sector’s revenue to the government as the GCAA would be able to accommodate and manage more aircraft.
The equipment was acquired following a bidding process at Spanish firm, Indra.
Aviation Minister Cecilia Dapaah paid a working visit to the GCAA, where more details on the new air traffic management system were revealed.
Ghana Civil Aviation Authority’s Project Manager for Air Traffic Management (ATM) Engineer Joyce Asante expressed confidence in the new system and described its role to CitiNews saying;
“The ATM system is a tool that helps the controller to separate traffic and avoid accidents. This system has enough information that helps in making a decision about where to put a particular aircraft. This system has the meteorological system and flight plans and all those useful information that the Air Traffic Controller needs to ensure safety in our flight information region.”
Personnel training on how to use the equipment have already begun at the GCAA. While the cost of acquiring the new equipment isn’t known, the combined cost of the system and personnel training was revealed to be $2 million.
“Ghana now can manage more aircrafts which means there can be more revenue for the GCAA, improvement in training and collaboration. Also this means that the Air Traffic Control has more time to allocate to each aircraft which also makes flights safer. In terms of GCAA, it has a lot of importance because of its oceanic area.”
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