Indra, a leading global technological engineering company for the aerospace, defence and mobility sectors, will deploy an integrated system to centralize all the phases of air traffic surveillance and control in India, helping to improve flight safety, increase management capacity and efficiency and reduce delays, emissions and noise pollution.
Following a demanding open international bidding process that has lasted over two years, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has awarded Indra and their local partners a contract worth more than 55 million euros to deploy its pioneering solution at five of the country’s main air traffic control centers and airports: Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Navi Mumbai and Mopa.
Indra’s solution incorporates the most advanced tools in the sector to perform the automated air traffic management and tracking of civilian aircraft from the moment they leave their parking stands and begin to move through the departure airport until they land and arrive at their parking stands at their destinations.
To achieve the above, the air traffic management system receives and processes data from the upper airspace surveillance radar network and becomes fully integrated into the management of the lower airspace, tower, sensors and surface radars of the airport, enabling it to see whatever is happening on the airport approach, apron, runways and taxiways. It will comply with the highest safety and cybersecurity requirements to guarantee the protection of the solution from any potential cyberattacks. Indra’s solution can therefore offer fully secure, fluid and seamless control.
As a result of this cutting-edge technology, air traffic controllers at these five centers will be able to manage traffic much more efficiently, controlling a greater volume of traffic in less time with high degrees of safety, efficiency and cost-effectiveness. This will improve passenger safety and the service provided to them by reducing the average flight time and delays, given that the solution calculates the exact position of each aircraft throughout all of the stages of the flight so as to detect any conflicts and provide alternatives in advance.
Indra’s technology will also contribute to the sustainability and environmental friendliness of air transport in India by helping to reduce fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and noise pollution. The company will work on the project with partners from the country, thus contributing to local development.
Leading technology in India and around the world
This project will strengthen Indra’s position as a leading supplier of air traffic systems in India. The company has already modernized several of India’s main control centers for the Airports Authority of India (AAI), including those in Delhi and Kolkata, as well as 38 towers spread round the country. Indra has also deployed a radar network that provides surveillance of 80% of the country’s airspace. Similarly, it has supplied several dozens landing assistance systems to Indian airports and four approach and tower simulators for the training centers set up at the air traffic control centers in Calcutta, Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai.
The contract will also reinforce the company’s position in the Asian market and its global leadership. Indra is a leading supplier of air traffic management systems, with more than 6,000 installations deployed in 180 countries. Its technology is involved in the management of 25% of the world’s airspace and it ensures the safety of 85% of passengers taking a flight anywhere in the world.
Indra is also at the forefront of the sector’s digital transformation and it was one of the first companies in the world to commission remote control tower systems and solutions based on artificial intelligence, big data, digitized IP communications and 3D radar capable of mitigating the effects of wind turbines.
