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| Andy Irving, NATS Group Engineering Manager, Michael Cockcroft, NATS’ General Manager ATS, and Graham Keddie, Managing Director at Belfast International Airport, with the airport’s newly-erected ILS runway radio antenna. Photo: NATS |
[Avionics Today 08-25-2016] An advanced Instrument Landing System (ILS) is up and running at Belfast International Airport in Northern Ireland after being successfully installed by NATS, the U.K.’s Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP). The Indra Navia ILS and associated Indra Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) represents the airport’s latest investment in technology that has been designed and developed to assist the safe landing of aircraft during poor weather conditions in which pilots are unable to establish visual contact with the runway.
By transmitting radio signals giving horizontal and vertical guidance, ILS technology is designed to act as a precision runway-approach aid; Belfast International’s new Indra LDB-103 DME is the first of its type to be installed at a U.K. airport
The replacement system successfully completed its Site Acceptance Testing (SAT) and Commissioning Flight Inspection (CFI) in July and, after more than 300 hours of Category I service without incident, the new Runway 25 ILS system was successfully upgraded to Category III in early August. It is now in full operation at the Northern Ireland airport.