“BIA needs a robust, state-of-the-art, digital radio system that will cost-effectively bring all users, including ground operations staff, airlines and other stakeholders, onto a single radio platform,” SITA official in an interview said.
“SITA will provide efficient, cost effective and reliable digital radio service to meet the demands of this rapidly growing airport in the region,” said Hani El Assaad, SITA Regional Vice President, MENA.
“Strategically located between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the airport serves more than 40 international airlines flying to over 60 destinations worldwide. BIA is also the fastest-growing cargo hub in the region providing both a Middle East regional distribution centre for major international carriers and a ‘super hub’ for DHL’s worldwide network,” he added.
“BIA as a designated super hub, it helps support operations to reconstruct Afghanistan and Iraq and serves as a major regional centre for both airline and truck cargo,” it said.
“To keep pace with this significant growth, the airport is planning to extend one of its terminal buildings, which will include additional air bridges, completely renovated baggage facilities and more parking, check-in desks, and shopping facilities. Several additional expansion projects are planned for Vision 2030,” SITA added.
Under the agreement, SITA’s new system will help in reducing the number of radio terminals required at the airport, while ensuring the most efficient use of the available radio spectrum.
“Offer a scalable solution with the ability to deploy process-oriented voice and data services such as flight oriented dialing (FOD) and other airport security applications to meet future needs. After considering several options, BIA chose SITA’s Professional Mobile Radio solution as part of a five-year, $3.2 million agreement.
“The solution is vendor agnostic, enabling third-party development, manufacturing and implementation of fully interoperable network and radio terminal products. This makes it a very flexible option for BIA,” he said.
“In line with our commitment to introducing cutting edge solutions for all those who operate within BIA, SITA provided us with a Mobile Radio Service that meets our needs exactly. The integrity of the radio coverage is constantly checked by a radio-link test system and the ‘signal coding’ within the system protect the privacy of our communication. With this new digital system, all BIA operators stand to benefit from clear, reliable and secure communication,” Gordon Dewar CEO of BIA quoted saying after the agreement signing with SITA.
A second phase of the programme will include new value added applications such as Flight-Oriented Dialling and Security Guard Control.
BIA’s new digital PMR system can easily handle the airport’s high traffic load, supporting its mission-critical business. It also offers several other benefits in the areas of security, quality and additional features—while at the same time reducing the total cost of ownership.
“The TCO with SITA PMR is comparatively less than previously available alternatives. For example, analyses of various public safety network projects estimate an operating cost per user above $00 per month. However, the TCO of SITA’s PMR can be less than half of comparable solutions on the market”.
“SITA Professional Mobile Radio is the best private mobile voice solution for airports currently on the market. It includes Java-enabled handsets, which support air transport-specific applications like flight dialing, RFID-based security systems, control and supervision of airfield lighting and many other features which SITA’s exclusive focus on air transport makes us uniquely qualified to support,” added El Assaad.