The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and Thales recently signed a SG$300 million (US$212.7 million) contract for a new Air Traffic Control system, LORADS III (Long Range Radar and Display Systems III). LORADS III, a state-of-the-art next-generation air Traffic control (ATC) system, will enable air Traffic controllers to safely handle increasing air Traffic beyond the next decade, according to the CAAS. The system will improve the efficiency of ATC operations through better sequencing of flights, enabling aircraft to fly at more optimum flight levels, speeds and routes. This approach ultimately translates into savings in both time and fuel, enabling greener skies.

The CAAS has also signed a SG$12 million (US$8.5 million) deal with Stratech Systems for a runway surveillance system designed to detect foreign objects and debris. The iFerret system will be deployed along Runways 1 and 2 at Singapore’s Changi Airport and is the first commercial application of the system, which detects, identifies, tracks and displays foreign objects in real-time. Aircraft repairs, flight delays and airport maintenance stemming from foreign object damage (FOD) costs the global aerospace industry an estimated US$4 billion a year, according to the CAAS. The contract was awarded following a 15-month pilot trial conducted at Changi Airport.

Passenger service of Vladivostok Avia grew 20.7 per cent in 2007 mainly due to the growth in international passenger service, with 2.5 billion passenger-kms in the full year, an increase of 16.6 per cent over the previous year. Passenger load factors totaled 72 per cent, a rise of 4.4 per cent. Cargo traffic grew 11.3 per cent with a load factor of 73.5 per cent, up marginally on a year earlier.

Meanwhile, Russia reached a temporary agreement with Tajikistan on lifting a ban on the flights by Tajik airlines to Russia.

Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency imposed the ban based on what it said were repeated violations of Russian air carriers’ rights by Tajik authorities.

Any renewed attempt to turn Bangkok’s Don Mueang back into an international airport would be counter-productive to Suvarnabhumi’s bid to become a regional aviation hub, a veteran airline leader warned, according to a Bangkok Post report.

Prasert Prasarttong-Osoth, the founder and chief executive of Bangkok Airways, Thailand’s largest private airline group, said the 93-year-old airport should only serve domestic flights, air cargo and general aviation activities such as chartered flights. He also called on the government to quickly expand the year-and-a- half old Suvarnabhumi to relieve congestion from soaring traffic demand. The tentative expansion plan includes construction of a mid-field terminal and a third runway to raise capacity to 60 million passengers a year from 45 million currently, all estimated to cost THB67 billion (US$2.1 billion).

His comments came in the wake of a fresh attempt by Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) to seek the new government’s blessing to open the former international airport, which currently serves non-connecting domestic flights, for international flights. A move to operate dual international airports for Bangkok could undermine the country’s attempt to make Suvarnabhumi an air hub, and it would lose out to Singapore Changi Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport, both of which operate from a single site, he said according to the report.

But he supported the idea floated recently by Deputy Prime Minister Mingkwan Sangsuwan for Don Mueang to play a bigger role as a cargo terminal, specifically for Thai agricultural goods and perishable products.

The air industry, meanwhile, has called for the Thai government to find ways to get the problem-plagued airport in working order. ‘’Suvarnabhumi is in a coma,’’ said Jaiyavat Navaraj, chairman of the Airline Operators Committee (AOC), representing 68 international airline managers stationed in Bangkok.

Among the 19 key recommendations made by the AOC are: Setting up a steering committee of experts to solve problems plaguing the airport’s cargo operation; for the government to commit to a single airport concept for Bangkok with the old Don Mueang airport being used for low-cost carriers; urgently fixing the surface depressions in the runways, taxiways, taxi lanes and apron; immediately revising and finalising the master plan for Suvarnabhumi’s expansion; and improving reliability of the current baggage handling system and resolving the theft problems by activating under-cover patrols and reviewing CCTV coverage.