Turkey's Air Traffic Control to Be Modernized

Turkey's en-route center, and the airport tower systems at Esenboğa, Atatürk, Adnan Menderes, Antalya and Dalaman, will be modernized as part of a project of the State Airports Management General Directorate (DHMİ).

The project, known as SMART (systematic modernization of air traffic control towers in Turkey), will make the country's tower systems compatible with Eurocontrol standards, enable the supervision of its ATC from a single center, and update its radars.

According to Ankara's Today's Zaman, Turkey's current radars were installed by Selenia in 1989, but have become outdated and are unable to meet the needs of the country's increasing air traffic levels.  Furthermore, it's becoming increasing difficult to find spare parts for these systems.

But an even greater problem is Turkey's lack of a STCA (short term conflict alert) system, which Eurocontrol has declared obligatory.  Turkey is now the only European country to still have this deficiency.

SMART also will provide Turkey's controllers a more secure air traffic management system and advanced technology to help reduce their workload, and will renovate the country's ATC radars that were installed in the early 1990s and have become technically and operationally outdated as well.

Once SMART is completed, Turkey's en-route ATC services will be provided only from the Ankara Air Control Center, rather than from both Ankara and İstanbul as is done today.  01-27-2008.

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