Overview
What is ATC?
In an
air traffic environment, the flow of data is typically facilitated by the AFTN, which includes
flight plans and
information about flights being handled, such as slot time requests and delays etc.
The information can typically be entered in ICAO format and in UTC time and may include the
following details.
- Aircraft Registration
- Runway Used
- Number of Circuits
- New Flight Details
- Actual Time of Landing and Departure
- Number and Type of Approaches
- New Estimates of Arrival and Departure
Aircraft registration is necessary to identify the type of aircraft, retrieve relevant
information from the database,
and allocate appropriate stands/air-bridges and bill for aircraft weight etc.
The runway used provides data for runway maintenance planning and statistical analysis.
Actual landing and departure times are used for billing of parking fees and updating flight
information status.
The number of circuits and approaches performed are recorded for billing and statistical
purposes.
Air Traffic Control data is utilized to create mandatory statistics required by government
agencies such as the National
Air Traffic Service (NATS). The information is used for planning and airspace management
purposes, as well as for
overflight billing.