Cutting Business Costs

Fri, Jun 21, 2013

By publisher

3 MIN READ

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Aviation Stakeholders in their meeting in the Caribbean discuss how to cut cost of doing business in Africa

|  By Maureen Chigbo  |  Jul. 1, 2013 @ 01:00 GMT

THE future of air traffic management, ATM, featured in the discussion when member states of the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation, CANSO, and global Air Navigation Service Providers, ANSP, gathered in the Caribbean Island of Willemstad, for a meeting. The Air Traffic and Navigation Services ATNS, company of South Africa, which is a member of the CANSO, was also at the meeting.

The three-day CANSO Global ATM Summit and annual general meeting, AGM, which started on Sunday, June 16, ended on Tuesday, June 18. The ATN actively participating in this event, fully conscious of the key issues including the difficult times the aviation industry is going through. The company continues to implement measures that will reduce the costs of doing business in South Africa and in the continent. This is done by supporting CANSO’s vision of interoperability and seamless operations between sectors and countries, through being part of the continental collaborative efforts of working toward a single airspace, among others.

ATNS recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, with Swaziland, which is an example of regional cooperation and collaboration, said Thabani Mthiyane, ATNS’s acting chief executive officer, CEO. “In advancing safety in the region, we have implemented the very small aperture terminal, VSAT, satellite network which has provided and invaluable service in enhancing safety in the Southern African Development Community and the North East Africa, NAFISAT, region. The network provided by the ATNS in partnership with another global organisation, namely the International Air Transport Association, IATA, offers a communication platform that allows for air traffic services, direct contact between countries and the digital transfer of flight plans and related information, which serves as a catalyst for the safety of flight operations”.

Referring to the World ATM Congress held in Spain, in February, Jeff Poole, the CANSO director general, said in his opening address that “Our stakeholders are looking for our active engagement to be able to address key issues and drive the necessary changes to achieve significant performance improvements. This summit is yet another opportunity to take positive and deliberate steps to drive forward our vision for the future.”

Milicia Albertus-Verboom, director general of the Dutch Caribbean Air Navigation Services Provider, DC ANSP, welcoming the aviation community in her country said “we are working diligently towards a seamless, global coordinated system of air navigation in order to cope with the traffic growth in the Latin America and Caribbean region”. She further stated that “DC ANSP continues to strengthen cooperative and collaborative ties with local, regional and international organisations in the aviation industry.”

ATNS has implemented operational efficiency interventions such as continuous descent and climb operations, known as Performance Based Navigation, PBN. These coordinated exercises reduce the fuel burn by aircraft and indirectly reduce gas emissions which are detrimental to the environment.

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