Moscow: The Largest Air Traffic Control Center in Europe is Opened in Russia

A new flight control center has become operational in Moscow, serving the Russian capital city’s consolidated center of the Unified Air Traffic Management System, the Russian Transport Ministry reports. The move is expected to boost the Moscow area’s airspace capacity, as well as improving flight safety in the sector.

The core element of the new center is a Russian-made automated air traffic management (ATM) system known as Sintez-AR4, which was designed by Almaz-Antey Concern.

The system consists of 10 pieces of equipment, which support the automation of air traffic control, airspace planning, meteo info, and personnel training, among other functions.

The Sintez-AR4 replaces the long-since-obsolete Swedish-made system Tercas, which has been in operation in Moscow since 1981 and cannot be further upgraded due to the limited floor area. With the Moscow airspace becoming increasinly congested, the old control center has eventually stopped keeping up with the task. Its area of resonsibility comprises over 730,000 square meters of land with 70 airfields on it, including 16 civilian airports. The Moscow center is responsibe for about 60% of all flights routed above Russian territory.

According to Almaz-Antey’s projections, the new center will boost the Moscow area’s airspace capacity by up to 30-40%.

The system will eventually be able to share information with the new ATM systems at Moscow’s the largest airports in the area, such as Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, and Vnukovo, thus increasing airspace capacity. Requisite equipment will also be designed by Almaz-Antey.

The decision to build the new center was made by the Russian government back in 2007; the building housing the center was constructed between 2009 and 2013. The structure did not become operational on schedule, however, because the testing phase lasted well into late 2016.

Now that the new center has become operational, a new airspace structure can be implemented in the Moscow area.

Texten kopierad från hemsidan "Russian Aviation Insider" (http://www.rusaviainsider.com/new-flight-control-center-operational-moscow/).