The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

TRANSPORT and Aviation Minister Glenys Hanna Martin yesterday led a Chinese delegation on a tour of the country’s new “state-of-the-art” Air Traffic Services Centre in preparation for the signing of an air services agreement between the Bahamas and the People’s Republic of China.

The delegation, headed by the Chinese’s Transport Minister, Yang Chuantang, and China Airways’ general manager, Cai Jianjiang, was given an opportunity to view the multimillion dollar facility at Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA).

According to Mrs Hanna Martin, the facility’s components and capabilities provided the delegation with a firm understanding that the Bahamas has an aviation sector that is “on the move” and interested in “facilitating greater air services”.

During a January communication in the House of Assembly Mrs Hanna Martin indicated that the countries had entered into discussions for securing air services between the Bahamas and China.

At LPIA yesterday she added that the new equipment and facility would ensure that the Bahamas was fully capable of receiving air services from international destinations like China. She said the presence of the Chinese government delegation has signified that the Bahamas is progressing and the capacity of the airport could facilitate flights from China.

Acting Director of Civil Aviation, Ivan L Clears, said that there has been a number of improvements at the Air Traffic Services Centre over the past three years to make sure that the facility was on par with international standards and the necessary redundancies were in place.

He explained that there are now adequate protocol, procedures and systems in place to guarantee that no matter the issue, the services centre remains fully operational. “As far as international radar standards we are certainly on target as far as having the necessary redundancies needed in this type of field,” he said.

“We now have a primary radar that can function tremendously. However, if need be, we have the necessary secondary protocols in place to ensure that services run without any issues. It is important to have those redundancies so that services stay in operation no matter the issue. We want to give the flying public that comfort that they deserve and this certainly is a big step in that direction.”

The facility, which is scheduled to begin basic operations in July, features a primary surveillance radar and a monopulse secondary radar. Officials at the Department of Civil Aviation said that the radars are built to operate in the toughest conditions and programmed to transfer information from the air traffic services centre to offices at LPIA. In addition to the radars, the facility houses a training centre for air traffic controllers.

Mrs Hanna Martin said the facility will allow officials to train air traffic controllers more efficiently in a shorter period with the new simulators. It is estimated that training for air traffic controllers currently takes around two years but officials are working to cut that time in half.

The Englerston representative added that the Department of Civil Aviation is working to develop “a cadre” of locally trained air traffic controllers. “At the end of the day we believe that we are going to be able to engage more air traffic controllers. We just hired 10, the recruitment will continue.”

Mrs Hanna Martin explained that the Bahamas is taking “purposeful steps” to expand and grow its economy through air traffic services and that all research done locally and internationally proved that a vibrant aviation sector can help achieve these goals.