SITA currently operates the Surface Weather & NOTAM system (‘SWANS’) which provides aeronautical and meteorological information to airline customers as part of SITA’s Flight Planning and Briefing services.
The SWANS system receives and manages over 400,000 messages on a daily basis containing NOTAM and MET information on a global basis from systems operated by the US FAA, UK NATS and the UK MET Office.
The system was originally implemented by Global Weather Dynamics (GWDI) in early 1990s and has gone through a number of upgrades over the years. With the latest contract, the system will be upgraded with Frequentis smartMessenger with an integrated NOTAM and Meteorological Information Management System. The new system is configured with full redundancy in a virtual computing environment.
Ian Gray, Senior Portfolio Manager at SITA Flight Briefing Services commented that “The SWANS system is a critical component used to support the Flight Planning Services provided by SITA to its airline customers. With the upgrade to smartMessenger, SITA ensures to continue providing timely and accurate information about the airspace and weather conditions during the planning phase of every flight and meet future traffic growth”.