Major Milestone for Airways NZ's Total Control Simulator

Airways NZ achieved a milestone this week with Site Acceptance Testing signed off for the delivery of its 360° Total Control Simulator to South Africa’s Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS).

Research and Product Development Manager for Airways, Mark Griffin, said the client was “extremely impressed” with the state-of-the art simulator, which allows training on a scale the South Africans had never experienced before.

“Total Control not only gives a full 360° uninterrupted view of the airfield, it also allows users  simultaneous use of parallel and cross-runway, and includes both tower and radar simulation, as well as military and civilian ops.  Total Control is the culmination of years of research, development and innovation and will will deliver ‘real world’ training to ATCs in South Africa and to many other parts of the continent in future.”

The Total Control 360° Simulator’s point of difference, according to Mr Griffin, is that it is a very flexible system.

“Total Control doesn’t just fly tracks in the sky, it actually lets you control in a real world environment. Air traffic can go anywhere; vehicles can go anywhere, our weather works like real weather thanks to our modelling of NZ microclimates.”

In this inaugural SIM sale to South Africa, Airways designed the required simulation solution and is providing the software adaptation and training. Initially users will train on the ‘Republic Airport’, which is modelled on Tambo Airport in Johannesburg, but in future, users will be able to train on any airport in South Africa.

“We designed the system very much with the future in mind. Following delivery and training, the client can be relatively self-sufficient in their use of Total Control by building other airports into the system. ATNS’ current plan is to deliver the ‘South Africa world’ by developing simulations for each airport in the country and then long-term, extend the licensing so the SIM can be used in other parts of Africa.

It’s a win-win situation for all – Airways technology and expertise will support ATNS to take control of their future training requirements in what is expected to become a region of significant aviation growth in future.”