Once again, Ineco has taken part –as both exhibitor and speaker–at the World ATM Congress, the foremost international event for the air navigation industry, which took place from 26 to 28 October at Madrid’s IFEMA Trade Fair Centre. The event was organised by Civil Air Navigation Services Organization (CANSO) and the Air Traffic Control Association (ATCA). Ineco shared a stand with Enaire and Senasa.

The congress, which was officially opened by the king, brought together around 10,000 professionals from 130 countries and, for the first time, hosted Expodrónica, a trade fair dedicated to the unmanned-aircraft industry. In fact, Víctor Gordo, in one of the two technical talks given by Ineco, gave a presentation on the use of drones to calibrate radio navigation. In the other talk, Eva García gave a presentation on the EOS tool for designing flight procedures.

Carmen Librero with Andrés Arranz, CEO of Senasa, and Ángel Luis Arias, general manager of ENAIRE, greeting king Felipe VI and Isabel Pardo de Vera, secretary of State for Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda, at the opening ceremony. / PHOTO_ELVIRA VILA

Our work in designing solutions aimed at promoting the improvement of mobility through transport networks to increase the quality of life of people and economic competitiveness of territories prompts us, on this occasion, to highlight on the front cover of this issue a project carried out for the Peruvian government to develop the future Central Bi-Oceanic railway (CFBC), a corridor whose purpose is to transport passengers and freight across South America and promote trade between Peru, Bolivia and Brazil.

Also abroad, our experience in planning has led to our participation with Adif as part of the advisory services that Spain is providing to India in relation to its plan to develop an ambitious high-speed rail network, which has been manifested in projects such as the one covered here concerning a feasibility study on a 772-kilometre high-speed line between Mumbai and Nagpur. We also highlight projects such as our recent collaboration on New York’s future Moynihan station and the development of a transport observatory for the Brazilian government, not to mention our proactive participation again at the World ATM Congress, a major international air traffic management trade fair.

We continue to forge ahead with our firm commitment to connecting people in an efficient, sustainable and safe way

In Spain, our commitment to forging ahead with a more efficient, sustainable and safe transport model, thus promoting continuous improvement in the quality of services provided, is also reflected in the goals of two projects carried out in Terminal 1 of Barcelona-El Prat Airport, a terminal that celebrates its tenth anniversary in June of this year 2019. The terminal’s south pier redevelopment and enlargement project will increase its capacity, and the new tunnel that will extend Line 2 of Barcelona’s c network will make it possible for more than 8 million passengers to travel from the Sants station in just 19 minutes. Lastly, we cover the improvements that are being made to the Port of Valencia and to the A Coruña railway station, works that will also contribute to these goals of quality and competitiveness.

We close this issue with a space on corporate social responsibility that features a report on the sustainable development goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which Ineco has integrated into its strategy and which we would like to share with our readers.

The annual World ATM Congress (WAC) event plays host to product demonstrations and launches, contract closures and networking opportunities, together with a busy schedule of conferences and high-level meetings. This year, a total of 225 exhibiting companies and 7,500 delegates from 130 countries took part. Every year, the World ATM Congress brings together around a hundred air navigation service providers (ANSPs), product developers, leaders and experts in the aviation industry, government representatives, manufacturers and industry suppliers from around the world.

Organised by the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) –of which Enaire (formerly Aena) is a founding member and which brings together air navigation service providers from around the world– in partnership with the Air Traffic Control Association (ATCA), an association that represents the air traffic control sector, the World Air Traffic Management Congress is an indispensable event that Ineco has been attending for almost 20 years.

The Galileo system: the brightest star

Galileo is the flagship project of European satellite navigation: a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) that will boast a total of 30 satellites by 2020 –26 of which are already in orbit– managed by the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (GSA). Galileo is compatible and interoperable with systems such as the US’s GPS and Russia’s GLONASS, and will offer an unprecedented improvement in performance in terms of precision, resilience and robustness.

In 2016, the GSA entrusted its operation and maintenance to a consortium led by Spaceopal for the following 10 years. Spain is part of this consortium, through a group of public enterprises led by Ineco, in partnership with Isdefe and INTA (National Institute of Aerospace Technology). Ineco is in charge of the operation, top level maintenance and management of the hosting services of the European GNSS Service Centre (GSC) located at the INTA’s facilities in Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid).

Orderly skies

With a marked international orientation, the air navigation sector moves in a world of extreme safety requirements and resulting advances in new equipment and technologies to ensure this safety.

Since 2007, Ineco has been part of the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) project, which is currently in the deployment phase of unifying space and air traffic control in Europe. In this respect, WAC 2019 played host to SESAR guided walking tours which saw the involvement of Ineco’s aviation experts Pilar Calzón, Víctor Gordo, Fernando Ruiz-Artaza, José Manuel Rísquez, Mercedes López and José Recio. There were also presentations on the integration of small drones and their application in airports and CTR environments by Víctor Gordo, and on the HEDIPRO flight procedure design tool by the engineers Javier Espinosa Aranda and Fernando Carrillo, also from Ineco.

The company has extensive experience in calculating and designing aeronautical charts for the publication of procedures based on PBN, GNSS, GBAS and vertical guidance approaches (APV SBAS), airspace restructuring –such as the restructuring carried out at Spanish airports and in countries of the likes of Egypt and Morocco– and navigation easement studies. Designs of instrumental flight procedures for the international market are also carried out, such as those implemented for the airports of the Sultanate of Oman, Cape Verde and Singapore Changi Airport.

In addition, in partnership with ENAIRE (formerly Aena), Ineco has carried out more than 2,000 radio simulations to assess the impact on airport CNS systems of infrastructures close to airports, such as shopping centres and housing developments, and within the airports themselves, for instance, new terminal buildings and runway extensions. To achieve this, the company uses its own NAVTOOLS proprietary software.

RPAS: all of the guarantees for drone flights

Ineco’s RPAS radio navigation aid verification project, which was presented during WAC 19, is an innovative solution for in-flight recording of radio navigation aid signals and a console on the ground that makes it possible to determine the trajectory flown and quality of guidance provided by the radio navigation aid.

The company is certified to operate and owns a light commercial drone for inspection of bridges and viaducts, and has also acquired a drone with greater capabilities and autonomy able to carry payloads of up to 4 kg, enabling more complex operations to be carried out.

From SACTA to iTEC

In terms of automated air traffic control systems, Ineco has historically worked in collaboration with Enaire and other industry partners on the evolution and development of its control system, known as SACTA, which
was designed entirely by Spanish companies and is a benchmark at the European and global levels. The SACTA and ICARO systems and the ACC voice communication system (COMETA) provide all aeronautical information necessary for air traffic control in Spain and are constantly updated.

The company is currently collaborating with Enaire on the development of a future automated air traffic control system (iTEC). Ineco is also working on another fundamental element for air navigation safety: guaranteeing the quality of the aviation data that ENAIRE collects, publishes and supplies.

Once again, Ineco was present at the Passenger Terminal Expo, (Amsterdam) and the World ATM Congress (Madrid). Both are important dates for the airport and air navigation sector, respectively.

The Passenger Terminal Expo, which this year celebrated its 20th anniversary, seeks to publicize the latest trends in the airport industry and enhance business relationships between the companies and entities that attend.

The World ATM Congress celebrated its 5th edition in Madrid, bringing together the leading suppliers of air navigation services in the world and in the aeronautics industry.