Air Traffic & Navigation Services
Air TrAffic An nAvigATion Se
Keeping Africa’s airspace safe
nd erviceS
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ir Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS) is the sole provider of air traffic management, navigation, training and associated services within South Africa. Responsible for approximately 10 percent of the world’s airspace, ATNS currently manages more than half a million arrival and departure movements every year while maintaining ISO 9001:2000 accreditation. ATNS also runs an international training academy (ATA) for aviation professionals, licensed to professionally train air traffic controllers and technical staff. To describe the role of the ATNS, it is best to echo the words of Mr Mpho Mamashela, Chairman of the Board, in his opening notes of this year’s ATNS’ Integrated Report. He talks about a typical passenger’s concerns when boarding a flight in South Africa. Is there enough leg room? When will the airline bring out the prepared meals? It’s not worrying about colliding with another passenger plane mid-air. There is a presumed peace of mind when it comes to air
safety, and that’s thanks to the work of ATNS’ air traffic control staff who work tirelessly, and with the highest standards of safety to ensure aircraft are scheduled to depart and arrive without incident. “Since the Company’s formation in 1993 there have been no catastrophic breakdowns attributed to ATNS,” says Mamashela. “Over the past 20 years, we have accumulated in excess of 5 million Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) flight hours. That said, one also needs to consider that, like any other Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP), we have had our fair share of ATS-related safety events. These, like all others, are fully investigated and safety mitigations are implemented to reduce the likelihood of recurrence.” HELPING TO DEVELOP AN ECONOMY The African aviation sector has potential to serve as an economic catalyst for the continent. Africa is blessed with commodities such as oil, gas and minerals which have driven rapid economic growth over the past ten years. The riches to be brought from the continent’s talent, energy and ingenuity of its people is a little less untapped. The aviation sector helps to support 6.7 million high quality jobs, with business activity totalling approximately $67.8 billion. One of the main areas for ATNS’s growth is its non-regulated business to support the anticipated growth of intra-continental air traffic. The Africa Indian Ocean (AFI) region is integral for being able to promote products and services. “The non-regulated business is already contributing 10 percent to ATNS’s overall revenue and the intention is to grow this percentage sustainably over time,” Mamashela adds.
TECHNOLOGY ATNS aims to take a leading role in the development of Air Traffic Management solutions and associated services in Africa and selected international markets. Using the latest technological advances is an important part of this. ATNS’s integrated gate-to-gate solutions, from pre-flight to landing, ensures airport safety, efficient traffic handling operations, data sharing on aircraft and seamless handover operations between territories. Supplier product roadmaps relating to this technology are aligned with ICAO ASBU concepts, NextGen and SESAR. A TRANSFORMATIVE ORGANISATION Like any successful organisation, ATNS’ attributes its continued success relies on its talented workforce, and with it the company’s ability to attract, recruit and retain diverse, qualified and skilled professionals. ATNS achieved a Level 2 B-BBEE contribution level during the year, and it is committed to organisational transformation, including the running of development programmes for employees to increase the representation of black (African, Indian and coloured - AIC) employees, particularly women, to align with the South African demographic. A major challenge facing the organisation going forward is the growing requirement for air traffic controller (ATC) skills. Approximately 60% of its staff costs pertain to air traffic control related services. ATNS competes with its international peers for air traffic controllers, resulting in high salaries to retain staff. “We are also now at a juncture, both in terms of our strategy and the Permission process, where we need to balance a very human-capital intensive business, on the one hand, with the increased focus on technology in the global aviation sector, on the other,” says ATNS.
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“Accordingly, ATNS’s long-term planning considers future challenges in terms of the skills that will be required within a globally-competitive, technologically-advanced aviation environment, in which many of the sector’s present skills will either become redundant, being replaced by technological functions, or have to be adapted to match as yet unknown competency requirements.” To help combat this problem, ATNS began a process during this past year which will span the next 15 years to 2030, to help the transition into an environment which will combine technological advances while also addressing the challenges of structural unemployment and poverty in South Africa. As a state-owned company ATNS is charged with helping to combat these issues, and the 15-year timeline for the plan coincides with the South African Government’s National Development Plan timeframe. “This enables us to work alongside Government to balance the development needs of our country with the growing infrastructure and efficiency requirements of our industry globally.” FUTURE OF AVIATION Looking ahead to the future, the aviation industry faces a huge continuing challenge to help make flying sustainable. Mamashela explains: “ATNS continues to innovate around sustainable solutions to minimise some of the adverse effects of civil aviation on the environment including emissions and noise. “Through advances such as continuous descent operations (CDOs), aircraft can descend from high cruise altitudes to the final airport approach at minimum thrust settings, thus decreasing noise in fly-over locations and using up to 30% less fuel compared to standard ‘stepped’
approaches. Further, the use of performance-based navigation (PBN) ensures that the lateral path can also be routed to avoid more noise-sensitive areas. “We are one of the few ANSPs in the world to offer approaching aircraft the ability to move directly to the centre fix of the runway when space, traffic and capacity allows. This saves on both fuel and flying time.” With more than two decades of success to build on, ATNS is set for a bright future as it adapts and grows with the African economy.
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Oliver Moy Publisher For enquiries email okm@aubusinesscoverage.com African Business Coverage Issue 9