With the presence of the Minister of Infrastructures João Galamba, NAV Portugal inaugurated yesterday the new TOPSKY air traffic control system.
This system, which will replace LISATM - a system developed by NAV Portugal and in use since 2001, which after constant updates has reached the "limit" of its useful life - has involved an investment of around 80 million euros in the system itself, equipment and new functions, remodeling of the New Operations Room and the associated voice communications system.
The adoption of the air traffic management system comes after NAV Portugal joined the COOPANS Alliance, which brings together air navigation service providers from Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Ireland, and Sweden.
In his speech presenting the system, NAV Portugal CEO Pedro Ângelo stressed that it is a more modern air traffic management system that can better accommodate the constant growth in air traffic that was felt at Lisbon airport in the years before the pandemic broke out.
Explaining the advantages of this new system, Pedro Ângelo explained that it allows "more precise monitoring, for faster and more efficient decisions in traffic management by the controllers. One of its features is the prediction of possible conflicts between aircraft 20 minutes ahead, which compares to two minutes in the former system."
The introduction of CPDLC, where communication with aircraft can also be made through Data Link, ensures greater efficiency and reduces frequency congestion. Another advantage of the new system is the possibility of creating new sectors for greater airspace optimization.
"The chosen solution also allows NAV Portugal to meet the technological challenges presented by the Single European Sky directives and to optimize national airspace," he pointed out. Finally, and praising the success of the project, he mentioned that "We migrated the systems in six weeks, while other companies took about six months.”
The Minister of Infrastructures stressed that "the investment we have witnessed today in the new TOPSKY system, as well as some airspace improvements that must be work out between ANAC (National Civil Aviation Authority), NAV and the Air Force, which are currently underway, will significantly improve operations at Lisbon airport. Your work has resulted in two projects of the greatest relevance: an operations room and an air traffic control system that covers a total area of more than 660,000 kilometers and monitors and guides around 660,000 aircraft/year.
