Isle of Man Airport’s New ATC Tower Goes Live with State-of-the-Art Comms

Eleven years after Frequentis AG installed its Voice Communication System (VCS) into Ronaldsway’s original Air Traffic Control tower, the company has returned to the Isle of Man (IoM) to integrate its 3020X Voice Communication Switch as part of the airport’s major upgrade project, the avionics part of which was managed by NATS Services Limited.

The new tower’s VCS 3020X provides integrated voice communications for radio, telephone and intercom and has seven working positions plus an engineering position which is mounted in the central equipment rack. The VCS complies with the latest CAP 670 and future SESAR requirements and with traffic movements having increased significantly over the last 11 years, the new VCS will ensure that the airport is equipped to meet future operational challenges as well as expansion and development plans.

Rob Marshall, the airport’s Manager of Air Traffic Services stresses the importance of flexibility: ‘‘During the life cycle of the original Frequentis system, the VCCS has provided faultless service in the old control tower. Frequentis’ flexible approach complements the way in which we operate and so, coupled with their state-of-the-art VCS, they were the logical choice to provide the update to our comms system for the new tower.”

‘’We maintain a high degree of flexibility within our working environment and wanted to undertake all engineering and operator training on-site to maximize efficiency. Frequentis supported that objective and we were able to acclimatise to the new equipment and set up very quickly.”

‘‘The recent completion of the airport runway project and the forthcoming plan to replace radar surveillance equipment means that the Isle of Man continues to lead the way in its use of technology and the exploration of all available options for operational improvement‘‘. With support from its subsidiary Frequentis UK, Vienna-based Frequentis AG has delivered equipment to 21 civilian and military airports in the United Kingdom. The company has also won the contract to supply NATS with the new generation of electronic flight strips, replacing the old paper method with its state-of-the-art touch screen technology which closely mirrors the established use pattern of the traditional paper strips.