Denmark's New ATM System Is Operational

Naviair, Denmark's ANSP (air navigation service provider), completed the cutover to its new ATM (air traffic management) system and control tower at Copenhagen at the end of 2007, following 12 years of development.

The new ATM system is the result of a Naviair modernization program known as CASIMO, and involved Eurocontrol's assistance as well, especially with regard to safety and certification issues.

CASIMO's core components include DATMAS (Danish air traffic management system), supplied by Thales; NITOS (Naviair integrated tower operating system), developed with help from Nav Canada; a VCS (voice communication system) supplied by Park Systems; a MAESTRO landing and departure sequence optimization system, supplied by Egisavia; and an INFO-05 information system.

DATMAS is used at Naviair's Kastrup headquarters to control and monitor air traffic across Denmark.  It is also installed at Copenhagen's international airport, and will be installed at the airports in Billund and Roskilde.

CASIMO combines the operations of what used to be two separate control towers at Copenhagen - one only for ground control - into a single facility, which now has NITOS, and a completely new information processing system that was developed with the support of Nav Canada.  One important NITOS technology is its IIDS/EXCDS (integrated information display system/extended computer display system), which eliminates paper strips with electronic technology.

MAESTRO assists Copenhagen's controllers in planning the optimum sequence for landing aircraft by using the system's AMAN (arrival management function), which continually calculates a proposed landing sequence and helps to determine the separation between the arriving aircraft.  In addition, MAESTRO has a DMAN (departure management) function to help plan optimum takeoff sequences which will be added to the system sometime in the future.

VCS has been installed at both Naviair's control center and the new tower at Copenhagen, and is connected to transmitters and receivers across the country, enabling controllers in the control center to communicate with aircraft throughout the entire Danish airspace.  Its telephone system is used internally for communication between air traffic controllers in the control center and the tower and externally for communication with other airports and control centers in neighboring countries.

For additional safety there have also been established separate backup systems for both radio and telephone. The backup telephone system is supplied by Northern Telecom and installed by TDC, while Naviair's own specialists have developed the backup radio system.  Even in the event that the main system should fail, these two backup systems have sufficient functionality to ensure the safety of the air traffic.

The INFO-05 information system provides all of this information, which is updated around the clock.

Naviair was created in 2001, when Denmark's air navigation services were separated from the Danish Civil Aviation Administration.  01-14-2008.

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