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Nav Canada unveils Kuujjuaq radar station

Big improvements coming to northern air traffic control

JANE GEORGE

Thanks to a new radar station in Kuujjuaq, air traffic controllers in Montreal now know exactly where any aircraft is flying within 250 kilometres of the community.

Last week, Nav Canada officially unveiled its new $7-million facility, located outside of Kuujjuaq.

Before this radar station started operating a few months ago, pilots had to report their positions to air traffic controllers, but their altitude and exact position didn’t appear on a radar screen.

Air traffic controllers in Montreal and elsewhere will now see the exact positions of high-flying jets on their radar screens.

With the new radar system, air traffic controllers can follow a steady stream of transatlantic air traffic over Kuujjuaq, all the way to Labrador.

"It will see direct benefits for us, being able to provide an air traffic control service in-flight," said Nav Canada spokesperson Louis Garneau. "Aircraft can be spaced closer together and have a better altitude assignment."

Nav Canada is a private corporation that looks after civil air navigation services in Canada, including air traffic control, flight information, weather briefings and airport advisories.

Nav Canada considers the Kuujjuaq’s radar station location, on a hill with an unobstructed view of more than 1,000 metres, to be ideal.

At the inauguration ceremony in Kuujjuaq, Larry Lachance, general manager of Nav Canada’s air control centre in Montreal, said the new radar station will help manage the growing volume of traffic over the North, which is expected to increase as airlines use polar routes to cut costs and reduce flying times.

This year, Nav Canada will spend $70 million in the North — part of which will pay for new radar stations in Kuujjuaq and Yellowknife. Four radar stations are planned in 2002 and 2003 for Iqaluit, Chisasibi, La Ronge and Stony Brook, part of Nav Canada’s $50-million northern radar expansion program.

Four other radar sites are under consideration for Puvirnituq, Coral Harbour, Arviat and Fort Severn, Ont.

While Nav Canada is investing in new facilities, it has also been asking its employees to share the burden of a $145-million revenue shortfall that it blames on the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. Air traffic volumes are down by 16 per cent from Nav Canada’s original estimates.

Now, Nav Canada wants to reduce its expenses by $85 million.

It has asked unions to forgo salary increases in their new labour agreement as part of a mitigation plan, and it also raised its rates by six per cent in January.

But over time, Nav Canada says the airlines will come out ahead.

"It is estimated these radar sites will save our customers some $170 million over the next 15 years. Without radar coverage, air traffic controllers rely on aircraft position reports, which are provided over VHF and HF. For customers, this meant greater fuel burn, lower speeds and longer flight times," Lachance said.

The radar facility will generate about $500,000 a year for Kuujjuaq.

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