Medellin Airports Getting Aircraft Navigation Surveillance Upgrade
Sweden-based high-tech systems provider Saab announced March 30 that downtown Medellin’s Enrique Olaya Herrera Airport (national flights) and the nearby José María Córdova International Airport (international flights originating at Rionegro) will get aircraft navigational upgrades.
According to Saab, the company won a contract from Aeronáutica Civil de Colombia (Aerocivil) to deploy Saab’s Wide Area Multilateration (WAM) surveillance systems around the cities of Cucuta and Medellin.
“Saab will be working with its local Colombian partner, Entelcom S.A.S., to install an array of its latest multilateration and ADS-B ground stations to provide surveillance of the Cucuta and Medellin approach sectors,” according to the company.
“ADS-B is the next generation of aircraft surveillance, which utilizes global navigation satellite systems to track aircraft positions. Saab’s system will improve the safety of flights operating in the visual corridor between Enrique Olaya Herrera Airport (SKMD) and José María Córdova International Airport (SKRG).
“Saab’s field-proven technology provides coverage in areas that are infeasible to reach with traditional radar” and also costs “much less than radar-based solutions,” according to Saab traffic-management division chief Anders Carp.
