Replacement of ATC Systems
With the new Air Traffic Management System (ATMS) fully commissioned in November 2016, all of the eight major systems in East ATC Centre (E-ATCC) and North ATC Tower (N-TWR) have been put into operational use.
Given the complexity of the new ATMS, CAD set up an ATMS Expert Panel which was comprised of five members from local and overseas experts and academia in the fields of Air Traffic Management (ATM), engineering and aviation safety management. Their terms of reference are to provide objective and expert advice to CAD on teething issues arising from the commissioning of the new ATMS and the necessary optimisation work; and to share with CAD the international experience and best practices in relation to the long-term optimisation of the new ATMS. The members were appointed for a one-year term from December 2016 to November 2017, during which a total of seven meetings were held. At the last (seventh) meeting held on 21 November 2017, the members remarked that the new ATMS had been providing safe, reliable and generally smooth round-the-clock ATC services for more than one year and the system performance had testified that the new ATMS was capable of handling all weather, traffic peaks and contingency situations.
Since the full commissioning in November 2016, the new ATMS had successfully handled the increased traffic during the traditional busy travel periods of Christmas, New Year, Lunar New Year, Easter and summer holidays. Weather-wise, there had been an unusually high number of occurrences of significant weather (including five severe tropical storms and severe/super typhoons) in 2017 in Hong Kong. Nevertheless, the total aircraft movements reached a record high of 2 341 over a 24-hour period on 24 August 2017 as the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) recovered from the impact of Super Typhoon HATO. The ATMS had successfully handled the peak air traffic flow and overcome the challenges brought by adverse weather. In 2017, the total number of aircraft movements handled by the ATMS increased by 7.6% as compared with 2016, affirming the performance of the ATMS and front-line air traffic controllers.
With the full transition of the new ATMS, the old ATMS had been maintained on standby mode for ready assumption of operation in the unlikely event of such a need. In view of the proven stability and reliability of the new ATMS, the old ATMS had never been reactivated and was subsequently decommissioned on 14 July 2017.
In November 2017, the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) presented CAD with the annual Global Safety Achievement Award 2017 for the successful implementation of the new ATMS in recognition of CAD's contribution to the improved safety level and increased efficiency in the provision of air navigation services in the Hong Kong Flight Information Region, which reaffirmed the importance of Hong Kong's provision of air navigation services to the long term development of the aviation industry in the Asia Pacific region.
