American based Aireon that operates a space-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) to enable global air traffic surveillance, has signed a data services agreement with the Agency for Aerial Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA).
ASECNA, created in December 1959 is an international public organization of 18 members States which headquarters is located in Dakar Senegal.
ASECNA’s members’ states are: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroun, Centrafrique, Comores, Congo, Côte d’ivoire, Gabon, Guinée Bissau, Guinée Equatoriale, France, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritanie, Niger, Sénégal, Tchad and Togo.
ASECNA is one of Africa’s largest Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs), covering 16.1 million square kilometers of airspace, through six Flight Information Regions (FIRs) – Antananarivo, Brazzaville, Dakar Oceanic, Dakar Terrestrial, Niamey and N’Djamena.
ASECNA is responsible for air traffic services in a significant part of the African continent, handling frequently traveled routes between Europe, East and Southern Africa and South America.
With AireonSM data, as early as 2019, ASECNA will be able to introduce a continuous layer of surveillance, augmenting existing infrastructure and completing coverage for their entire airspace. This will significantly improve service availability to airlines and enhance safety and efficiency in African airspace.
“The vastness of the landmass that ASECNA is responsible for poses an immense surveillance challenge, especially because it is not always possible to install or maintain ground infrastructure,” said Mohamed MOUSSA, ASECNA Director General, “With Aireon’s space-based ADS-B, we are looking towards the future, augmenting our capability and providing full, real-time air traffic surveillance to our airlines. This will not only provide a much higher level of availability of services, but will also significantly increase safety, as controllers will be able to see all aircraft, in real-time, across the ASECNA airspace. Safety will always be our top priority, and we look forward to having real-time surveillance in this part of the African continent.”
“The Agreement with ASECNA is a major step towards safety and efficiency in Western and Central Africa, allowing 17 African States to make a major step towards some of the main goals of the ICAO Global Air Navigation Plan,” said Don Thoma, CEO of Aireon. “Safety has long been a top priority in the region, and we are proud to be working with leading organizations such as ASECNA. For the first time, more than half of the African airspace will be under real-time air traffic surveillance.”
ASECNA joins other African ANSPs in the deployment of space-based ADS-B. South Africa’s Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS) and Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) have also signed agreements over the last 18 months.
