Air Traffic Control Tower inaugurated at Heydar Aliyev Int'l Airport

/By AzerNews/

By Amina Nazarli

A modern type of Air Traffic Control Tower was inaugurated at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport on December 9.

The new Air Traffic Control Tower with radar system is unique one in Europe and meets all modern requirements in air traffic control. The Tower will ensure more efficient air traffic control of approaching, landing and maneuvering at the airport.

The secondary RSM970S Mode S type radar implemented in new Air Traffic Control Tower was supplied by Thales.

French Ambassador to Azerbaijan Aurelia Bouchez, Vice-President of Thales Eurasia Roger Daix and First Vice-President of "Azerbaijan Airlines" Sabir Ilyasov attended the opening ceremony.

Addressing the event, Ilyasov said AZAL has implemented many successful projects to ensure flight safety in the Azerbaijani airspace thanks to President Ilham Aliyev’s care and attention to the development of Azerbaijani aviation.

"Thanks to its well developed air navigation infrastructure Azerbaijan is one of the world leaders in introducing of new technologies in air navigation that include the latest scientific achievements. This ensures a high level of flight safety in accordance with the latest requirements of the ICAO and Eurocontrol", the first vice-president said.

Azerbaijan’s air navigation system attracts the attention of the largest air carriers. Today “Azeraeronavigation” Air Traffic Department provides air navigation services to more than 80,000 transit over flights and about 40,000 takeoffs and landings per year.

Azerbaijan Airlines is a major air carrier and one of the leaders of the aviation community of the CIS countries, with the newest airplane fleets, consisting of 25 airplanes. The airline flies to 40 destinations in 19 countries and transported more than 1.8 million passengers in 2014.

Azerbaijani civil aviation aircraft fully meet the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and AZAL is a member of the most prestigious civil aviation association - the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

AZAL received a prestigious "4 Stars" from the leader in air transport research, the world-famous British consulting company Skytrax in June 2015.