Airways New Zealand's Oceanic Control System

Airways New Zealand considers its Oceanic Control System (OCS) as being at the forefront of Oceanic Enroute ATM technology development. Operating for a full eight years as the 'sole means' oceanic air traffic management system for the Auckland Flight Information Region at Airways New Zealand's Oceanic Control Centre in Auckland, New Zealand, the OCS real time conflict probe has moved the standards of service provided to customers to a new level and fundamentally changed the controller's role. It is also the core technology of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Advanced Oceanic Technology and Procedures (ATOP) project that produced their Ocean21 system.

Airways New Zealand is therefore able to offer its airline customers user preferred routes and the ability to randomly re-route at any point of their flight to optimise wind patterns.

The OCS and Ocean21 conflict probe

The most distinguishing feature of the OCS is the real time conflict detection - it is fully automated. Aircraft flight profiles are "conflict probed" against all other aircraft within the airspace. Conflicts are automatically detected and advised to the controller for resolution. Further, the controller's function becomes one of conflict resolution focused on optimising service to airlines - as opposed to conflict detection.

All aircraft flight profiles within Airways New Zealand's Oceanic Control System and the FAA's Ocean21 System are 'conflict probed' against all other aircraft within the airspace. Conflicts are automatically detected and advised to the controller for resolution.

In this way, reroutes requested by an aircraft are 'probed' and checked for potential conflicts, and once the Oceanic Control System has confirmed that a conflict or potential loss of separation with another aircraft will not occur, the controller is able to clear the aircraft to the new flight profile.

Initial operating capability of the Airways Oceanic Control System (OCS) at Auckland, New Zealand was demonstrated September 1999. After a very conservative extended period of mimic operations, where the OCS was operated in parallel with the old manual control system, the OCS became "sole means" delivery of the oceanic area control service in July 2000.

Since the introduction of the OCS, a single air traffic controller can safely manage double the number of aircraft:

• Communicating with aircraft via data link or voice (SATVOICE for non-routine and emergency communications)
• Providing surveillance via ADS or pilot voice position reports
• Interfacing with other ATS units using ATS Interfacility Data Communication
• Applying a variety of separation standards based on aircraft capability
• Processing user preferred routes (UPR), ATS fixed routes and weather deviations with ease

While the most distinctive feature of the OCS is its automated conflict detection and how the controllers use it, the OCS has all the normal features associated with modern enroute Air Traffic Management Systems.

 

 

Ground Based Navigation and Surveillance

 

 

Oceanic Satellite Based Navigation and Surveillance