In Buenos Aires the Airport reopens now equipped with new navigation systems

The renovated Jorge Newbery Airport that reopened its facilities today is larger and more functional than its previous version, and incorporates new air navigation and meteorological observation equipment that contributes to raising the category of the airport, for greater efficiency and reliability of flights. Its new Landing Instrument System (ILS) and new Automatic Weather Observation System (AWOS) will allow it to operate even with visibility values ​​lower than the current minimums.

Until before the reforms carried out in Aeroparque, both systems were of standard precision, which allowed to carry out approaches using radioelectric instruments in what is called Category I. The new equipment is of a higher precision and will allow airplanes to make approaches in Category III, with visibility values ​​similar to those of the Ministro Pistarini International Airport in Ezeiza. Although some values ​​improve since the opening, such as the minimum take-off, those for landing must be accompanied by airport infrastructure planned for a second stage.

The ILS system consists of a set of navigation signal transmitters, guided in the horizontal plane in reference to the axis of the runway, and vertically, in an optimal descent path. Once the signals are transformed into guidance indications by the instruments on board the aircraft, they follow a virtual path that takes them to the desired touch point on the runway.

Regarding Aeroparque's new AWOS system, it is part of a total of 18 AWOS systems acquired by EANA to be installed in the country's airports. An AWOS CAT III automatically measures and transmits ¾at both runway headwaters and at their midpoint¾ high-precision instantaneous data of current weather conditions: visibility, runway visual range, cloud base height, precipitation, direction and wind speed, temperature, atmospheric pressure and other parameters. Consequently, the minimum meteorological operating values ​​of the airport can be reduced, and with it the delays or deviations of flights.

The installation of the ILS Category III involved the total replacement of the antennas and all the components of its installation. A new fiber optic line and radio links between them and the airport control tower facilitate the work of the technical support staff and the monitoring of the equipment by the air traffic control staff. These facilities have power and data redundancy, which maximizes availability, and is central in an airport of these characteristics. The runway center line signal antennas are arranged horizontally behind the headland opposite the landing, while the descent path antennas are mounted to the side of the runway, close to the intended touch point.

Once the installation was completed and the initial operation of the transmitters and antennas of the new ILS had been checked, they were verified in flight, consisting of approaches made by aircraft specially equipped for this purpose. In this way, the stability, precision and quality of radio signals were certified, in accordance with international standards.

The modernization of navigation and meteorological observation systems carried out by EANA in Aeroparque, within the framework of the Ministry's Air Transport Modernization Plan, will allow the personnel of the air navigation and meteorological services, as well as the companies that operate at the airport, to have more and better information for decision making, as well as to improve the regularity of the operation by minimizing disruptions that generate delays and cancellations.

In addition, both the air traffic control personnel and the technical support personnel of the teams -CNS / ATSEP- received the instruction and functional training, maintenance and use required to take advantage of the advantages of the new technologies installed. The sum of these actions represents an improvement in core aspects of safety.