ENAIRE, the air navigation manager in Spain, has successfully implemented the electronic flight progress strip in the control tower at the Barcelona-El Prat Airport. With the implementation of the electronic strip, all the entries that were previously made manually by controllers will not be entered and updated electronically, from flight plan management to clearances and transfers of aircraft, which are now shown and displayed on the radar screen.

Electronic flight progress strip implemented in the Barcelona Control Tower by ENAIRE

ENAIRE controllers stationed in the control tower at the Barcelona Airport have different duties:

– Clearance delivery: approves the flight plan and provides the information that crews need prior to a flight.

– Ground controller: handles the ground movement of an aircraft, from the time it vacates the runway until it reaches the parking stand, and vice versa.

– Local controller: manages and authorises landings and take-offs.

Increasingly efficient air traffic control

The electronic flight progress strip is an important step forward, since it makes the air controller's job easier in terms of service efficiency and quality, by reducing the communications workload and digitising processes.

This implementation was made possible by the excellent attitude of ENAIRE's air traffic controllers in Barcelona, who received theoretical and practical training to familiarise them with this new tool.

This paperless system is part of an ambitious programme to evolve Spain's air traffic control system, a programme that started in the control towers of the Malaga-Costa del Sol and Palma de Mallorca airports.

ENAIRE plans to continue incorporating the electronic flight strips in every tower where it provides aerodrome control services, including the tower at the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport.

‘BCN a Punt’ Plan endorsed by the Ministry of Public Works

The implementation of the electronic strip in the el prat tower is part of the "BCN a Punt" plan, presented in Barcelona this past 29 November by the Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Transport and Housing and President of ENAIRE, Pedro Saura, on the occasion of the meeting of the Catalan Airport Coordination Committee.  

The initiative is designed to continue improving operational efficiency at the airport through a set of measures that go beyond Spain's borders by virtue of being part of the Single European Sky programme.

ENAIRE’s new ATENEA office

As part of the "BCN a Punt" plan, ENAIRE is taking over the ATENEA plan office, whose specific mission it will be to implement operational and technical improvements in the area of air navigation, in coordination with the airport manager, Aena.