The Planning and Control Department, responsible for the implementation
of all government financed projects at Kuwait International Airport, has
successfully brought on line a number of major projects over the last
few years.
At the core of the Department's workload is the Kuwait
Airspace System Plan (KASP), a far-sighted initiative devised to endow
KIA with the finest air navigation and communications systems available
and keeping the DGCA in the vanguard of the Middle East's civil aviation
community. KASP comprises a series of independent, yet overlapping,
projects that aim to ensure the safe and efficient operation of all
aircraft using Kuwait airspace and to minimize the risk of possible
incidents by utilising the latest aviation technology. These projects
are encompassed within the following main project areas:
Surveillance systems.
Meteorological systems.
Communication systems.
Electrical infrastructure.
Civil infrastructure.
Ancillary services.
KASP
projects brought on line and fully operational include the short-range
Kuwait Approach Radar System (KARS), Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) and a
Low Level Wind-shear Alert System (LLWAS). The highly advanced Kuwait
Approach Radar System (KARS) is capable of tracking air traffic
movements with a high degree of accuracy through its state-of-the-art
Primary Surveillance Radar (PSR) and co-located Monopulse Secondary
Surveillance Radar (MSSR). Monitored by approach controllers from their
perch high on the ninth floor of the control tower, the PSR provides
highprecision aircraft detection, while MSSR furnishes aircraft identity
and height information.
The sophisticated Doppler Weather Radar
(DWR) – located off airport for improved performance – offers advance
warning of server localised weather condition as well as excellent
long-range rain and cloud detection capabilities (up to 100km and 230km
radius respectively), while the new Low Level Wind-shear Alert System
(LLWAS) is designed to give flight crews early warning to avoid
potentially dangerous downdrafts. On the communication side, other KASP
projects completed have been replacement of the airport's 30- year-old
telephone exchange (PABX) and installation of a Supervisory Control and
Data Acquisition System (SCADA) and Kuwait Airport Data Interchange
Network (KADIN).
The PABX system allows callers to dial just one
free call number – 180 – and access a wealth of airport related
information through a menu of options, including lost baggage tracking,
suggestions and complaints, and realtime flight arrival and departure
information. KIA's new SCADA system is enabling better management of the
airport's 11kV power distribution system and features advanced
self-diagnostic capabilities, enabling early fault location and
rectification.
Part of KASP project also has been the
installation of an airport-wide KADIN network comprising more than 30km
of fibre-optic cabling, which will form the backbone of the airport's
evolving communications network. Kuwait Airport Data Interchange Network
will eventually link the various KASP projects to the Control Centre
and to other relevant departments around the airport. KADIN features
100% redundancy, so that, if problem develops with one part of the
network, the system will automatically re-route to ensure continuity and
integrity of the system.
Meteorology projects currently underway
include a new, networked Automatic Weather Observation System (AWOS)
for the entire state and the introduction of a Meteorological Data
Processing System (MDP), which will further revolutionise Kuwaiti
weather reporting. Forthcoming KASP projects include a Long Range Radar
system, South Power Building, further expansion and development of the
Electrical Distribution Network, additional Service Infrastructure, and a
Surface Movement Radar.
The main focus for the KD100m (around
US$300m) KASP, however, will be the long awaited KIA Control Centre,
conceived as a state-of-the-art communications hub for the entire
airport. The complex, covering 20,000m2, will be situated on the
south-east of the airfield, close to runway 33L/15R, and is designed to
bring KIA's meteorology, air navigation, communications and radar
activities under a single roof for the first time, combining the various
completed projects into a unified whole.