Airside Vehicle Tracking & Management Solutions / Airport Vehicle Telematics

In mid-2011, BlueFinger was approached by one of the UK’s largest commercial airports seeking a solution for the tracking and management of their winter maintenance vehicle fleet. The requirement was to monitor the movements and operational conditions of a variety of vehicle types from de-icers to runway clearance units. This necessitated the collection of data from the vehicles such as de-icer tank status, de-icing on/off, speadwidths, snowplough status etc. For operational reasons, the use of mobile-phone based communications technology (GPRS/3G) was not permitted by the airport authorities.

BlueFinger provided a solution for the 100 vehicle fleet based upon the use of its TracsTDMA product. This unique tracking product offers an over-the-horizon, self-making network capability using either VHF or UHF radio frequencies. Vehicles can still be accessed even if they are not in line-of-sight of the radio basestations; data rates can be set to provide information every few seconds; and, once the network is established there are no ongoing airtime costs – as there are with similar GPRS-based solutions. Additionally, TracsTDMA provides very high levels of GPS performance offering industry leading satellite gathering times and exceptional sensitivity, meaning that urban canyoning problems, common on many airfields, are virtually eliminated.

The UHF network established at the airfield was installed and operational in all required vehicles at short notice for the 2011/12 winter season. The project included the installation of the Saffire enterprise IT software into the airports existing IT structure and the established airport-wide ‘situational awareness’ environment. Despite the limited time available, the Saffire software was modified to use the customer supplied digitised airfield map and to provide bespoke reports for the winter maintenance operation.

In the airside tracking market, when compared with its GPRS and ADS-B based competitors, TracsTDMA offers many advantages. Its radio and GPS performance is outstanding; it is very robust with flexible data collection options; and, it is extremely cost-effective in terms of both initial capital outlay and ongoing operating costs. The airport authority has recognised these advantages and is now considering expanding the system to include other operations vehicles on the airfield.