Less than 90 days after being selected by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) under its Surface Awareness Initiative (SAI), Saab’s Aerobahn Runway and Surface Safety Service is assisting air traffic controllers with operations in Nashville.

Saab has worked with the FAA for nearly three decades to provide safety solutions for runways across the United States. Among other things, Saab is the prime contractor for the FAA’s Airport Surface Detection Equipment, Model X (ASDE-X) program, which is in use at 35 airports, and the FAA’s Airport Surface Surveillance Capability (ASSC) program, which is in use at 9 airports. These programs have been instrumental in maintaining the FAA’s exceptional safety record.

Surface surveillance systems increase runway safety by providing air traffic controllers with information on the position, movement and relative attitude of aircraft and ground vehicles. They also provide audible and visual safety warnings of potential runway collisions. These services are critical for operations where air traffic controllers’ situational awareness is compromised by combinations of visibility, traffic volume and airport layout.

The FAA’s SAI program demonstrates how low-cost runway safety technologies can help improve safety at airports where the deployment of traditional surveillance equipment such as surface movement radars (SMRs) has been difficult due to budget constraints.

In the area of ​​airport surface management and collaborative decision making, Saab’s Aerobahn platform has been adopted by more than 30 airports worldwide since its launch in 2003 (from some of the world’s busiest hubs such as ATL, ORD and HKG to small regional airports such as HDN). A large number of airport operators, airlines and ground handlers rely on Aerobahn every day to improve the safety and efficiency of their operations, making it the most respected surface optimization platform on the market. This success supports the ICAO GANP ASBU SURF-B0/2 guideline, which recommends that stakeholders share access to real-time surface surveillance data as a key element for comprehensive situational awareness for surface operations.

The recent launch of Saab’s Aerobahn Runway and Surface Safety Service in Nashville under the FAA’s SAI program represents a game changer for airports seeking to safely manage their operations without the budget to install and maintain an SMR or full-fledged Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control System (A-SMGCS).

Saab is now in a unique position to provide air traffic control service providers, airport operators, airlines and ground handlers with a truly multi-user, multi-purpose platform powered exclusively by cooperative sensors (MLAT/ADS-B) that can simultaneously operate surface optimization functions and automatic detection and warning of safety conflicts – at a fraction of the cost previously possible.