New Airport Operation Center Gears Up for China’s Zunyi Airport

On April 17^th, Zunyi Xinzhou Airport, the second largest airport in south China’s Guizhou Province, launched its airport operation center (AOC) which was developed and installed by VariFlight, a leading aviation data technology provider.

The AOC features an airport intelligent operation (AIO) system, an integrated voice communication platform, a smart panoramic apron surveillance system, an airport collaborative decision making (A-CDM) system, and systems for meteorological data, secondary radar, multilateration, and conference calls. The AOC hall is also equipped with a video wall for monitoring key airport operational status, such as live flight situations, apron video surveillance, flight regularity data, and so on, creating a whole picture in real time and around the clock for airport operators.

The AIO system which consists of an information integration system and an A-CDM system plays an important role at the AOC. The information integration system serves as the platform for flight information management and publishing, stand allocation, grand handling communication, etc. The A-CDM system, at the same time, generates visual workflows for decision-makers at the airport through bridging the data gap among airport, ATC, airlines, and other stakeholders in the aviation activities. With data collected from these sources, the system records dozens of milestones during the approach and departure of a flight at the airport, and alert operators to those behind schedules which may cause flight delays. Operators can identify the problem with the help of video surveillance and allocate resources to support the completion of those lagging milestones.

“AOC is in the central part of our operation at Zunyi Airport. There are 10 working desks here, including one which can speak to the crew and provide supports from the ground. The AOC effectively integrates data from different sources for more timely, accurate, and complete information to better inform our stuff and therefore reduces their workload and minimizes risks.” explained Mr. Liu Kun, Director of the AOC of Zunyi Airport.

Having struck a record high annual passenger throughput of 2 million in 2018, Zunyi Airport has also become the first medium sized regional airport in Guizhou Province as defined by Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). In the first quarter of 2019, Zunyi Airport keeps that rapid pace and has grown 15.45% YOY in terms of passenger throughput. The newly launched operation center is well positioned to handle challenges brought about by this sudden growth.

“VariFlight is proud to part of Zunyi Airport’s efforts towards a smarter and modernized airport. Over the past years, hundreds of airports of different sizes in China have adopted our A-CDM system. We will strengthen our leadership in smart airport solutions by investing more on R&D and developing more products that meet our customers’’ demands,” said Mr. Zheng Hongfeng, Founder and CEO of VariFlight.