Air-traffic management takes off with bobcat

Pongpen Sutharoj

The Nation

Arranging the route plan for more than 60 flights a day over the Bay of Bengal with the security constraints of the skies over strife-torn Afghanistan does not sound like an easy task.

But a Thai team at the Bangkok air-traffic management centre of Aeronautical Radio of Thailand (Aerothai) says it is now not so tough.

With the help of a software system developed by an engineering research team from Aerothai, this complicated task becomes simple. By using the specially developed software, officials at the control centre can plan routes and time slots for all aircraft flying to and from Asia and Europe over Afghanistan.

"We spent three years developing the software to control and manage air-traffic flow. The software helps us manage air traffic in the area," said Tinnagorn Choowong, director of the air-traffic management centre.

Aerothai is the only company authorised by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to oversee the management of all flights flying across the Bay of Bengal. Its software, Bobcat, is a key tool for route management, as well as time and spacing for all flights.

Bobcat, which stands for Bay of Bengal Cooperative Air-Traffic Flow Management System, is based on Web technologies. The system allows airlines to request route and time slots through the Internet. After getting information about a flight's schedule, aircraft type and altitude, the software plans a route and time slot for the plane automatically. The slot information is sent back to the airline to allow pilots to know the route and time slot. The information is also sent to the air-traffic controllers and the airport, in order to allow officials to manage air traffic better. The system not only suggests the route, but also recommends the optimum altitude for the aircraft, Tinnagorn said.

The system is now recognised by the ICAO as the world's first long-distance air-traffic management system.

"Managing a long-distance flight that takes about six to seven hours is not easy, because it crosses many national borders. Thus, we must cooperate with air-traffic controllers at each point for route-information transfer, in order to make each aircraft fly over each territory smoothly," he said.

Flying over Afghanistan has limitations, because of security constraints. Due to this, civil-aviation regulations require each flight passing over the Bay of Bengal to obtain a slot from the Bobcat system. Each airline needs to ask for the slot at least two hours prior to take-off.

Launched in the middle of last year, the system helps reduce the workload of air-traffic controllers in the region. With better route management, it also helps the airlines save costs and eliminate flight delays.

It is estimated that the new system could help the airlines save about US$12 million (Bt377 million) annually in operating costs, especially fuel expenses, by reducing aviation-fuel consumption 12 million kilograms a year.

This also translates into a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by at least 50 million kilograms a year.

Tinnagorn said the team also planned to develop Bobcat further by adding more features for better air-traffic management.