Spanish ENAIRE extends FREQUENTIS contingency communication and maintenance project for up to 12 years

• Contract for expansion and maintenance of the voice communication backup systems for all major Spanish air traffic control (ATC) centres
• Benefits to include increased capacity of air traffic controller radio and telephone resources improving the quality of contingency communications and resilience
• Full integration into ENAIRE’S digital communication network
• Extensive software maintenance element will prolong the system’s life span

Spanish air navigation service provider (ANSP) ENAIRE has selected Frequentis to complete an expansion of its contingency communication systems upgrade, known as Last Resort Voice.

Frequentis has been successfully collaborating with ENAIRE since 2020 to implement its IP-based voice communication solution across Spain, bringing on average one centre live per year. The latest contract expansion will include operational maintenance to extend the lifecycle of its systems. The systems are being provided to all major ATC centres as a backup system in the event of unavailability of the main voice communications.

“Frequentis has been providing ENAIRE with its VCS3020X IP-based voice communication system as a contingency system across nine locations in Spain since 2020,” says Hannu Juurakko, Frequentis Executive Vice President ATM Civil and Chairman of the ATM Executive Team. “Providing comprehensive maintenance services for those systems to keep them up to date and to protect ENAIRE’s investment is the next step in this process to maximise the life cycle of the system.”

The project period is six years, with two potential three-year extensions, guaranteeing provision and coverage of operational needs for the next decade. Full integration into ENAIRE’s internet protocol (IP) communication network will facilitate the migration to voice over IP (VoIP), replacing older analogue features.

“We are facing an ambitious project that will allow us to have a contingency voice communication system for our control centres, with all the capabilities for oral communications between controllers and with pilots. This will allow us to ensure the provision of air traffic control service in a more efficient way and with the use of cutting-edge digital technology,” says Enrique Maurer, CEO ENAIRE.