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Mr. George Kvirikashvili, Prime Minister of Georgia opened a new ATC building and a training center of Sakaeronavigatsia. of Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, equipped with state-of-the-art technology, at Tbilisi International Airport.

The opening ceremony was attended by Dimitri Kumsishvili, First Vice-Prime Minister of Georgia, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Luis Fonseca de Almeida, Regional Director of the European and North Atlantic Office of the International Civil Aviation Organization, Eamonn Brennan, Director General of EUROCONTROL, Gonzalo Gavin, Director General of Spanish Company “INDRA”, high officials of civil aviation and other state agencies.

As Prime Minister noted, this is another step forward to increase flight safety and to develop the ATC industry in Georgia, which is directly related to the development of aviation, tourism and, in general, of economy in the country.

The need to build a new ATC Center and to equip it with the modern system was caused by the unprecedented growth of air traffic in the airspace of Georgia. In 2017, the loading of airspace was increased by 13% and the growth trend will be maintained in forthcoming years, according to the forecast of EUROCONTROL.

A new modern system, manufactured by Spanish Company “INDRA” is installed in the new ATC Center of Tbilisi, and the voice communication is provided by Italian Company S.I.T.T.I. S.p.A. system. The new system of INDRA will have dual protection, which will be activated in seconds in case of a problem and this process will be a completely unnoticed procedure for the air traffic controllers. The new system of INDRA will have third additional protection, a reserve independent from the system, installed in Kutaisi, which completely excludes delay in the working process.

The training center is equipped with the modern 3D ATC simulator of INDRA, with which the air traffic controllers will undergo practical training.

“Switching to a new ATC system will enable “Sakaeronavigatsia” to introduce even more innovations. INDRA’s new system will give the company an opportunity to move from the existing two-sector level to a three-sector level, which will further increase the capacity of the airspace of Georgia. It will also become possible to activate the so-called upper sector, where aircraft of transit or distant routes are flying, which will also be an innovation for the Georgian aviation,” – stated Gocha Mezvrishvili, Director General of Sakaeronavigatsia.

The building of a new ATC Center is also special, built-in full compliance with European standards. Its ceiling, heating-cooling system, the acoustics are the best in the region. The building design belongs to the architectural company “LEBO”, while the civil works are performed by company “Dagi”.

“I think, the new environment will make the working process of the air traffic controllers more attractive, comfortable and productive,” - said George Kvirikashvili. The Prime Minister expressed his gratitude to the management of “Sakaeronavigatsia” Ltd., Director General of company “INDRA”, construction company “Dagi” and all the employees of Sakaeronavigatia and company “INDRA”, who took part in the construction of the new ATC Center and its equipment with the modern systems. The Center, built in compliance with the international standards and equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, will allow Georgia to be competitive in the region and to meet new challenges, that are facing Sakaeronavigatsia, in terms of constantly increasing air traffic in the airspace of Georgia.