Weekly Review #275: Are you ready for Airspace World 2025?

• 23 Norwegian airports to be remotely operated with Indra’s air traffic control system in Avinor’s Remote Tower Centre- Indra has signed a contract with Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace AS to deliver tower and communication systems for an additional seven new airports that will be operated from Avinor’s Remote Tower Centre in Bodø, Norway. The centre is the world’s largest of its kind and new airports have been gradually added since its opening in 2022. A prerequisite for the extension is that each operator can operate up to three airports from the same working position, enabled by Indra’s InNOVA air traffic control system. Indra’s centralised remote tower centre significantly enhances cost efficiencies and the operational flexibility at low-traffic airports.
• Airservices Australia and EUROCONTROL partner to enhance airspace management with LARA- Airservices Australia and EUROCONTROL today announced a landmark agreement to implement the LARA system in Australia. LARA, which stands for Local and Regional Airspace Management System, is a EUROCONTROL’s state-of-the-art software platform providing a comprehensive suite of tools for airspace management and coordination, enabling seamless collaboration between civil and military aviation actors.
• LVNL reduces night-time noise pollution for residents in the province of Noord-Holland- LVNL has implemented measures to decrease night-time noise pollution in Noord-Holland, benefiting residents in the province. These actions aim to improve the quality of life for those affected by aircraft noise during the late hours, showcasing a commitment to environmental and community well-being.
• Contrails Explained: Why They Form and What They Mean - NATS Blog- Contrails, the wispy white streaks that sometimes form behind aircraft, have long been a subject of interest – sparking debates about their environmental impact, their role in climate change, and even fuelling conspiracy theories. While there is consensus that contrails have an adverse effect on the environment, scientific understanding still needs to improve to calculate their exact warming impact, and there is less agreement as to how much and over what timescales such effects occur.

Airport news

• Africa’s Biggest Airport Under Construction in Ethiopia: A Game-Changer for the Continent- Ethiopia is embarking on one of Africa’s most ambitious infrastructure projects: the construction of a $6 billion international airport near Bishoftu, a town located approximately 45 kilometers southeast of Addis Ababa. Slated for completion by 2029, this mega-airport is poised to become the largest on the continent and a pivotal asset in Africa’s aviation landscape.

Market news

• US Space Force Selects L3Harris to Design Resilient GPS Satellite Concepts - L3Harris Technologies has received a contract from the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command to design concepts for Phase 0 of the Resilient Global Positioning System program. The R-GPS program is a procurement of cost-effective small satellites that will augment the existing 31-satellite GPS constellation providing resilience to military and civil GPS users. Space Force plans to produce and launch up to eight satellites to address jamming, spoofing and more permanent disruptions.

Research and innovation

• Bringing fresh perspective to some of ATM’s most pressing challenges - SESAR JU- Increasing flight numbers, integrating new airspace users, making aviation more sustainable – these are just some of the complexities facing air traffic management today. They’re also the type of challenges being addressed by the winners of this year’s SESAR Young Scientist Award. Announced during November’s SESAR Innovation Days, the annual award recognises early-career researchers who have excelled in ATM and aviation-related fields. “This award is designed to highlight the potential of young talent to bring fresh perspectives and solutions to the challenges facing ATM and aviation,” says Andreas Boschen, Executive Director of SESAR JU.
• From Hollywood blockbusters to AR innovation: An interview with Raffael Dickreuter, CEO of Superba AR- Raffael Dickreuter, CEO of Superba AR, a company at the forefront of Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence, sat down in Bern, Switzerland, with DroneTalks’ CEO, Eszter Kovács, to discuss his journey as well as the progression of the AI and AR industries.

Reports and data

• Christmas getaway got away in good time - NATS- NATS safely handled 181,015 flights in December, an increase of 1.5 per cent on December 2023. Non-transatlantic arrivals and departures showed most growth, with 4.1 per cent more flights than a year ago. Spain, France and Germany were the busiest routes.
• 2024: air traffic in the Czech sky increased by 14 % year on year- The growth of air traffic in the Czech airspace continued in 2024. In the past year, 711,216 movements were recorded in the Czech airspace compared to 621,226 in 2023. The average daily number of movements in the Czech skies during 2024 reached 1,948 and as usual, July was the busiest month in terms of traffic, with almost 76,000 movements. The biggest customer of ANS CR in 2024 was Ryanair.
• Setting New Operational Record Among Saudi Airports King Abdulaziz International Airport Serves 49.1m Passengers in 2024- King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) in Jeddah achieved a historic milestone in 2024, recording the highest annual operational figure in the history of Saudi airports. 278 000 flights were recorded (11% increase comparing to 2023)

UAV and UTM

• Pierce Aerospace Awarded USD10M Contract for Remote ID Technology - Unmanned airspace- Pierce Aerospace has been awarded a USD 10 million Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity subcontract from Amentum to support evolving Remote ID requirements from the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate. This subcontract was awarded as a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program Phase III award under Amentum’s Department of Defense Information Analysis Center’s multiple-award contract vehicle. It provides opportunities to test and evaluate Pierce Aerospace’s Remote ID detection, tracking, and identification systems and software to various geographies with multiple departments and agencies participating.