Airways New Zealand connects with the Pacific

Airways New Zealand is strengthening connections with its closest neighbours, the Pacific region, by working with global agencies to support development and improvement of air navigation services in the region.

The New Zealand air navigation service provider has a long history of working in the Pacific, and is now engaging with funding agencies around the world to lead development and investment in a seamless Pacific air navigation region.

“Airways’ vision for the Pacific region is to create a ‘Functional Airspace Block’ that maintains the same standard of infrastructure, service, customer value and safety we provide in the New Zealand Oceanic Flight Information Region,” says Airways Head of Customer Management Gareth Owen.

“To ensure safe and efficient air navigation services throughout the Pacific, it’s critical for the region to have the same level of aviation investment that occurs domestically and worldwide – and ensuring the same standards and aviation development in the future.

“Airways is keen to support aviation investment in the region, as are many global bodies such as The World Bank, European Investment Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the New Zealand and Australia governments.  We’re now engaging with some of these agencies to discuss how we can together support aviation development in the Pacific,” Mr Owen says.

Airways is considering the Pacific’s wider aviation needs in its strategy to further support the region – including airspace management, communications, charting and procedures including Pacific AIP requirements, navigational aids, flight inspection, ongoing maintenance, and training.

Airways projects in the Pacific

Airways has several development, maintenance and training projects already underway in the Pacific.

The organisation undertakes annual flight inspection and calibration activities around the Pacific, and recently completed its 2013 programme – including visits to Vanuatu, Niue, Rarotonga, Tuvalu, Kiribati and Nauru.  Airways technicians also refurbished runway lighting in Niue, and installed a PAPI visual landing system in Nauru.

Airways Customer Relationship Manager Geoff Burgess says the Airways flight inspection aircraft and crew visited 10 Pacific countries over 16 days in May.

“In many countries we also met with airfield operators and government officials to discuss how Airways can help to improve aviation safety throughout the region – updating air navigation charts for domestic airfields was a key discussion point,” Mr Burgess says.

Another Pacific nation to recently benefit from Airways expertise is Papua New Guinea. In the past year, two groups of air traffic control trainees from PNG have come to New Zealand for their aerodrome control training at Airways’ purpose-built ATC training facility in Christchurch.

The trainees spent much of their training time in the world-leading Total Control ATC simulator, which gives a full 360° view of the simulated airfield and was developed by Airways in conjunction with Animation Research Ltd.

Upper Airspace agreement

A significant element of Airways’ involvement with the Pacific region is its joint commercial agreement with Tonga, Samoa, Niue and the Cook Islands to provide air traffic management services in the states’ upper airspace.

Airways provides enroute air traffic control services using its Oceanic Control System.  With safety and reliability as the primary focus, Airways works closely with the states’ ANSPs, hosting an operational meeting annually, resolving operational issues and providing familiarisation visits to Airways facilities.

As an example of its commitment to safety and reliability in the Pacific region, in 2008 Airways installed a satellite ground station in Tonga to resolve communication issues between Fua’amotu Tower and Auckland Oceanic Centre.

The satellite station is the first step in Airways’ plans to develop an aviation satellite network for the Pacific, called PASNet (Pacific Aviation Safety Network) – a closed network linking airports and air transport organisations in 15 countries, to carry safety and security voice and data communications.

Ends