16/06-08   -   Press releases

DFS supplies training simulator to Morocco

The German air navigation services provider DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH has supplied a complete training simulator with 17 workstations to the Moroccan airport operator and air navigation services provider Office National Des Aéroports (ONDA) in Casablanca. The total costs for this simulator amounted to almost 2.4 million Euro. In future, Moroccan air traffic controllers will be trained for en-route and approach control at the radar simulator. ONDA had issued an international call for tenders for training equipment in their new academy building and awarded DFS the contract.

DFS installed 16 consoles together with a supervisor workstation as well as eight additional positions for simulation pilots in Morocco. At the workstations, the “NewSim" training software was installed, which had been developed by DFS together with the simulation provider UFA Inc. With this software, all en-route and approach control procedures can be tested under real conditions. The simulator is adapted to the ATM system used for air traffic control in Morocco. However, the “NewSim" can also simulate other ATM systems. Radar and flight plan data are displayed in the same way as in the ATM system to enable controllers to use them for training purposes.

The equipment in Morocco is similar to that used at the DFS Air Navigation Services Academy in Langen, near Frankfurt, Germany. "We have been successfully using this modular and scalable software for six years and have adapted it to our practical requirements," said Karl-Heinz Steffens, Head of the ATM Simulator Centre in Langen. "A great benefit is the system´s multi-exercise capability," Steffens continued. This means that several groups and individual users may simultaneously and independently use the system.

The contract with ONDA also included training courses for the Moroccan air traffic control instructors and technical staff. Regular maintenance and repair of the equipment and network are carried out by DFS together with a local partner.