NEWS
SKY ’ S THE LIMIT
Capital gains – Tascomp has fitted the state-of-the-art PAMS alarm management system at London City Airport .
40-year-old Billingham firm has an air of confidence , following world first with exclusive airport alarm system
WORDS : SARAH WALKER
A
state-of-the-art alarm monitoring product made on Teesside has seen London City become the world ’ s first major international airport to be fully controlled by a remote digital air traffic controller .
It might sound like a scary prospect , but the PAMS alarm management system , made by Billingham-based Tascomp , means air traffic controllers can safely be based 115km away from London City .
In place of a manned control tower , a remote digital air traffic control tower at the airport uses a private and secure superfast fibre network to transmit information to air traffic controllers at the National Air Traffic Services ( NATS ) base in Swanwick , who have access to touch screen displays .
The displays show everything that ’ s happening at the airport and enable speedy reactions to take place .
Thanks to advances in modern technology , many modern international airports are set to go the same way – and Teesside ’ s Tascomp , which has been around for 40 years , is at the forefront of these global advances in air traffic control technology .
“ The PAMS product we provide is an alarm management system for air traffic control towers ,” explains Ashley Tizard , managing director of Tascomp .
“ We put in a system that links to a variety of equipment that ’ s essential at an airport to enable aircraft to land and take off , including radar systems , voice recorders and radios .
“ If something goes wrong , our system brings a variety of different alarms into one central point , enabling quick decisions and actions to be taken .”
Military mission – Tascomp has a 22-year contract with the Ministry of Defence .
The technology enables the remote monitoring and central management of multiple locations over any distance , with significant benefits for carrying out both air traffic control and air traffic engineering requirements .
It can be used for main or contingency towers , remote digital towers for single airports such as London City , or for monitoring a group of airports at a central or distributed locations .
Tascomp ’ s PAMS system had a proven track record , having been installed at major UK airports since 2003 , including Leeds Bradford , Birmingham , Manchester and Glasgow .
But London City became the first in the world to install the remote digital air traffic control tower as part of a £ 350m airport revamp .
Tascomp partnered with several key players , including Saab and NATS , to deliver a solution that has successfully reduced the amount of equipment and staff resources required for safe air travel , vastly reducing costs .
It has also allowed London City to maximise its air traffic capacity , with increased information available to the air traffic controllers on 360-degree digital window screens .
“ The industry is changing ,” says Ashley . “ It is digitising , as most industries are , and we are at the forefront of that .
“ It ’ s now possible to have multiple airports being controlled from a central location , without anybody being at those sites .”
Ashley says the safety work undertaken by NATS traffic management and the civil aviation authority on the London City project was extensive , in-depth and very reassuring .
In addition to rolling out its products to commercial airports , Tascomp also has a 22-year contract with the Ministry of Defence to install the technology at UK military airbases .
Now , the sky is the limit for Tascomp , with airports around the world likely to follow London City ’ s lead .
Ashley said : “ NATS , who manage air traffic in the UK and engineering and air traffic controllers in 14 airports , now promote our solution .
“ We have become the biggest player in the UK market and we are now getting enquiries from overseas airports and national organisations who provide air traffic services for their countries .
“ Over the last few years , we ’ ve taken on new staff every year and we will be taking on more this year . It ’ s an exciting time for the airport industry and an exciting time for Tascomp .”
Find out more about PAMS at pams . aero .
The voice of business in the Tees region | 51