The Directorate of Civil Aviation for Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHDCA) has introduced an Air Traffic Services Message Handling System (AMHS) from Frequentis Comsoft to replace the Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunications Network (AFTN) and enhance aviation communication within its airspace.
The AMHS system enables all types of ground-to-ground aeronautical messages such as flight plans, meteorological messages and NOTAM messages to be sent and received in accordance with the standards and recommended practices of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Commenting on the collaboration with BHDCA, Thomas Hoffmann, Frequentis Comsoft Managing Director, said: “All three sites (Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Mostar) now have technically identical systems after the system upgrade, which can be mutually supervised and operated. If required, the operational service can, once initiated, be automatically moved to the system at the contingency site in approximately 15 minutes, including the complete data history. We look forward to working together on future projects.”
BHDCA’s system consists of a location-independent, redundant operating system (OPS), contingency system (CONT) and a training and testing system (TRAINING/ TEST) and has been successfully operational since May 2020. The AMHS system is a communication system that represents a central point of access to international AMHS networks and data, linking user terminals of operational services and units of BHDCA into the world exchange of data and information.
During the implementation of AMHS into the operational use, an air navigation system safety assessment was also conducted by BHDCA.
“With BHDCA changing from AFTN to AMHS the ATM world becomes more modern, reliable and secure,” explained Vaclav Sourek, Frequentis Comsoft Sales and Marketing Director. He underlined that, “Frequentis Comsoft’s excellent track record with 65 AMHS customers worldwide proves that our clients are pleased with our AMHS system quality, which is our priority.”
According to Kiwi.com’s Head of Airport Partnerships, Patrick Zeuner, airports can use that point-to-point connectivity to replace lost transfer traffic by creating a virtual hub for self-connecting passengers. “It’s a win-win situation,” he said explaining that ultimately, virtual interlining can result in increased traffic and increased passenger spend, both in an airport and the destination it serves.
The Fly to Milano campaign saw transferring passengers encouraged to stay overnight with a free hotel stay and Consuela Scionti, Business Innovation Manager, Aeroporti di Milano, revealed the virtual interlining initiative also increased awareness for the airport and Milan as a destination on a global scale. Meanwhile, Balazs Bogats , Head of Airline Development at Budapest Airport said that having lost all its transfer traffic as a result of COVID-19, Virtual Interlining has presented his airport with the “opportunity to optimise those passengers who are now self-connecting through the airport.” Bogats also revealed that according to his calculations (based on IATA’s forecasting) around 7 million seats will be missing from eastern and western Europe in 2021 compared to 2019 figures. “There is certainly market potential for passengers to self connect and as the fastest growing market segment currently, I’d like to think that virtual interlining will help with our recovery,” he added.
The San Donato Group is an Italian hospital group that will oversee the testing process. The nose-pharyngeal swab tests can be carried out at facilities located at both Milano Prime’s terminals at Linate and Malpensa. Alternatively passengers can opt to have the swab performed at their own address or at the San Donato Group’s own outpatient centres – Punti Raf First Clinic of San Raffaele and Palazzo della Salute GSD.
One of the major benefits of remote tower technology is that the system can be extended to control multiple airports from the same control centre. Kongsberg and Avinor Air Navigation Services are already working together on the Ninox programme, which includes 15 different airports that will all be operated from a new control centre located in Bodø, Norway (pictured right).