New NAV CANADA radar facility offers northern service enhancements

NAV CANADA has unveiled a new radar facility, in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.

The new $6.5-million facility is meant to generate substantial safety and service benefits for local and trans-North Atlantic traffic, both of which are currently experiencing high and growing demand.

The facility will use technology that eliminates garbling, allowing more precise identification of traffic.

“This will provide increased safety to aircraft flying in airspace where radar coverage is not currently available, with positive real-time identification of aircraft. It will also improve aircraft routing, especially the transition of aircraft to more optimum flight levels when in radar coverage,” said John Crichton, president and chief executive officer of NAV CANADA.

The new radar installation will also improve safety and reduce delays, and will be better able to accommodate vital air transportation services, such as Medevac and search and rescue.