His Excellency Mr. Jassim bin Saif Al-Sulaiti, Minister of Transport, inaugurated yesterday a medium-range radar at Hamad International Airport, which will be used to monitor and manage air traffic for arriving and departing aircraft, during a ceremony held at the radar site, in the presence of His Excellency Mr. Paolo Toschi, Ambassador of the Italian Republic to the State, and Mr. David Fazio, Senior Vice President of the Italian company Leonardo, and a number of officials from the Ministry and the General Authority of Civil Aviation.
This radar, which was established in cooperation with the Italian company Leonardo and is equipped with systems with advanced and accurate characteristics, will contribute to providing the required information to air traffic controllers, by recognizing and tracking aircraft, thus enhancing full knowledge of the air traffic situation in order to simplify its management.
Pioneering flight system
On this occasion, His Excellency Mr. Jassim bin Saif Al-Sulaiti, Minister of Transport, said that this inauguration and the achievements that preceded it during this short period, reflect the extent of progress achieved by the field of Qatari air navigation, which supports the building of a pioneering and sustainable civil aviation system that adopts the best policies and practices, and the highest international standards in aviation. This field, with the aim of raising the country’s position on the global aviation map to the best levels in terms of efficiency, quality and development, in order to achieve the Qatar National Vision 2030.
Achieving strategic goals
His Excellency added that the use of modern technological systems and technologies in the field of air navigation contributed to achieving the strategic goals to keep pace with the needs of increasing the capacity in air traffic that the country witnessed during the last period, as the number of air navigation movements at Hamad International Airport and Doha International Airport since the start of operations For the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 until the end of the tournament, 26,425 air movements, equivalent to takeoffs and landings every minute.
Latest technology
He explained that the aim of the medium-range radar is to provide an integrated radar system that uses the latest technologies that are compatible with the latest national and international standards. instructions, ensuring the safe and efficient flight of air traffic.
It is worth noting that the medium-range radar covers an area of up to 200 miles, and an altitude of up to 45,000 feet from the surface of the earth. This radar was also linked to the long-range radar to achieve the integration of air traffic flow, ensure the safety and security of aviation, and keep pace with the increase in air traffic in Qatari airspace.
The medium-range radar updates the location of the aircraft every 5 seconds, which contributes to knowing the location of the aircraft with high accuracy, and helps the air controller to provide the service of separation of aircraft and the flow of movement with high efficiency, in addition to arranging priorities during takeoff and landing, which supports the landing and takeoff of three aircraft simultaneously using three Runways at Hamad and Doha International Airports, with the aim of increasing the capacity to reach 100 aircraft per hour, and this system is applied for the first time in the Middle East.
Al Nuaimi: Increasing the capacity and creating additional lanes
Mohammed Abdul Rahman Al Nuaimi, a radar engineer in the Air Navigation Department of the General Authority of Civil Aviation, said that the medium-range radar covers 200 nautical miles, equivalent to 380 kilometers and miles, and a height of up to 45,000 feet from the surface of the earth, indicating that the radar system is linked to an automatic control system.
He added, on the sidelines of the launch of the S-Band medium-range radar, that the radar of the northern region is more specialized in monitoring aircraft crossing Qatari airspace, as it monitors aircraft from the long range until they approach the Qatari airspace, and then they are monitored through the medium-range radar.
Al-Nuaimi indicated that the radar system in Qatar increases the capacity to monitor the airspace of Hamad and Doha international airports, through which three aircraft can land or take off at the same time at Hamad and Doha airports.
He explained that the new radars enable civil aviation to increase air routes and capacity in the air, indicating that the North radar comes within the framework of plans to develop the Doha region for flight information.
And that the medium-range radar, which was established in cooperation with the Italian company Leonardo and is equipped with systems with advanced and accurate characteristics, provides air control units with knowledge of the location, height, speed and direction of the aircraft, moment by moment, to ensure safe and effective flight of air traffic.
Al-Hajri: Developing the process of managing the country’s airspace
Mr. Muhammad Faleh Al-Hajri, in charge of conducting the work of the General Authority of Civil Aviation, affirmed that the launch of the medium-range radar at Hamad International Airport, two days after the launch of the long-range radar, is a continuation of the stage that the country started to keep pace with the development of the international civil aviation system and in line with the latest technologies in the world of devices and equipment.
On the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony, he stated that the General Authority of Civil Aviation will continue the process of developing the process of managing the country’s airspace indefinitely.
Regarding future work in the civil aviation sector, Al-Hajri said that the building supporting air traffic control services is currently being equipped, in addition to the modernization of the aviation system, including radars and air monitoring devices similar to the Hamad International Airport control tower, with what is called a virtual control tower “back-up” or support services in a building. He pointed out that the authority is about to launch a tender for international companies soon to supply navigational systems, radars and air control control rooms.
Al-Hajri explained that Hamad International Airport is able to accommodate high air traffic in conjunction with the summer vacation season and holidays efficiently and easily, especially after the recent expansion, which raised its capacity to about 60 million passengers, and more than 40 international airlines are currently managing their operations from the airport, which has the ability to Accommodating more than 100 air movements per hour, indicating that the installation of many new devices and modern technological technologies contributes directly to increasing the capacity and creating additional air paths that contribute to the smooth flow of air traffic for arriving and departing aircraft.
He added, “In support of the national cadres, Qatari engineers and technicians specialized in the field of radar were trained to deal technically with medium-range radar technologies by sending them for training in the manufacturing company in Italy as a first stage, and then practical training at the radar site under the supervision of specialized engineers from Leonardo.”
