Civil Aviation Authority to construct Manila control center

MANILA, Philippines - The Transportation and Communications Department has given the go-signal for the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines to start with the construction of a new back-up Manila Area Control Center.

Caap Director General Ruben Ciron said DOTC Secretary Leandro Mendoza informed him Tuesday giving him the go-signal to proceed with the new project which would be in place in three months.

“I received a call from Secretary Mendoza Tuesday, he approved the notice to make a go for the new ACC project,” Ciron told The STAR. Called the ALS 2.5 system, this equipment would be used primarily by air controllers, while the old radar monitor-display consoles would be on standby in case of emergencies. The project, costing about P300 million would be finished in December.

A similar equipment consisting of a workstation with 12 radar display consoles, and associated system would cost more than a billion pesos, Ciron said. “Actually this project has been approved some years ago in anticipation of possible breakdown in the aging Caap equipment but there was a delay due to procurement procedures,” Ciron said.

Ciron and the new radar console display would be able to receive signals from three long-range radars located in Laoag, Tagaytay and Cebu and process the inputs in Manila for a country-wide radar coverage of all incoming and outgoing flights within the Flight Information Region. At the same time, Ciron announced that flight operations at the premier airport has been fully restored as of 8 a.m. yesterday.

In an earlier report, one Marlyn Tolentino was erroneously mentioned as an employee of Singapore Airlines, but she is actually from MacroAsia. – Rudy Santos