THE Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said it will focus on hardware upgrades to its communications, navigation, surveillance and air traffic management (CNS/ATM) systems this year.
“For 2024, … we completed the software upgrade. What we want to happen now is to complete the hardware upgrade,” CAAP Director General Manuel Antonio L. Tamayo said.
He said CAAP is planning to tap the loan extended by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for this upgrade program.
“The primary concern is funding. However, we have savings from the JICA fund that was supposed to be used in constructing the existing CNS/ATM. JICA extended the loan; now we have approximately P2.1 billion (available),” he said.
This system upgrade, which was integrated last year — is part of CAAP’s program to enhance the air traffic management system, making air traffic operations more efficient and reducing delays.
The CAAP embarked on the system upgrades following the power outage that hit CAAP facilities in 2023, which affected thousands of passengers. — Ashley Erika O. Jose
