Perth airport was seeking to weather proof its airport using the latest technologies to reduce the impact of adverse meteorological conditions on its operations. After a competitive review of the available alternatives Perth Airport chose ADB SAFEGATE to supply the full turnkey CAT-III Airfield Lighting System upgrade including ILCMS and integration with the ANSP’s ATC systems.

Perth airport is a major international airport that operates around the clock.  The airport handles 4.2 million passengers and more than 135,000 traffic movements every year. Located in the remote south west of the Australian continent Perth is one of the most isolated international airports in the world.

CAT-IIIb upgrade to prevent aircraft diversions

Perth can have up to 65 forecasted low visibility days per year. Before the lighting upgrade low visibility conditions would lead to significant numbers of aircraft diversions. The nearest alternate airports to Perth are a minimum of 2 hours of flying time away. Airline diversion costs including fuel, transport & accommodation can reach over half a million dollars per diversion. With new ultra-long-haul routes opening up to London the requirement for planes to carry the extra fuel required for diversions needed to be reduced as much as possible.

It was decided by the team at Perth airport that they needed to upgrade their main runway from a CAT-I rating to CAT-IIIb. This would involve a complete lighting upgrade to the main runway, approach, taxiways and signage. It would also require upgrades to the NAVAIDS such as the Instrument Landing System (ILS), Runway Visual Range System (RVR) and Air traffic Control (ATC) System.

ADB SAFEGATE was selected as the turn-key integrated system provider for the Airfield Ground Lighting system. 3800 intelligent LED light fittings were installed along with cabling and control systems.

“The CAT-III upgrade project will provide a lot more certainty for the West Australian community, for businesses and for our airline partners who need to have that certainty when they are coming into our port. One of the greatest advantages I see is having to maximize our capacity during those low visibility events. This will be one of our greatest benefits and it is going to be a great benefit to Western Australia,” said Robert Mikhail, General Manager Airfield Operations at Perth Airport.

Considerable benefits for passengers, the airport, the airlines and the environment

ADB SAFEGATE is committed to the challenge of helping airports to operate more safely, efficiently and sustainably:

• Aircraft can now land in low visibility conditions, to a distance of 50 m down from 800 m
• Aircraft won’t need to carry as much additional fuel
• The upgrade enables direct flights from the UK,  a first for Australia
• Dramatic reduction in diversions is expected
• ADB SAFEGATE was capable of completing the full project in-house
•  The project was delivered over the course of two years

ADB SAFEGATE is a leading provider of intelligent solutions that deliver superior airport performance and operations, and jointly identify and solve bottlenecks. Our consultative approach enables airports to improve efficiency, enhance safety and environmental sustainability, as well as reduce operational costs. Our portfolio includes solutions and services that harmonize airport performance, tackling every aspect of traffic handling and guidance, from approach, runway and taxiway lighting, to tower-based traffic control systems and intelligent gate and docking automation. ADB SAFEGATE has 900+ employees in more than 20 countries and serves some 2,500+ airports in more than 175 countries.