AIR TRAFFIC



  Control room

Air Navigation Center

The aims of air traffic control, whose responsibility is entrusted by the state to Tunisian Civil Aviation and Airports Authority, consists in ensuring a safe, orderly and expeditious air traffic flow. The control is ensured by air traffic controllers (commonly known as “Sky switchmen”) within Tunisian airspace and in a part of the surrounding seas to the common airspace boundaries with the neighbouring countries.
 
Tunisian airspace is subdivided as follows :
 
Each airfield is endowed with a control area, with a radius of 18 kilometres and a height of 450 meters, for the needs of taking off and of landing. This portion of airspace is put under the responsibility of tower controllers who are equally in charge of flight control at ground level ;
 
Also, each airfield is endowed with a zone of approach extending to a radius of 55 kilometres and a height of 2700 meters. This portion of airspace is under the responsibility
of tower controllers ;
 
The remainder of airspace, particularly air corridors or airways, is placed under the responsibility of Tunis Area Control Centre (ACC).
The Controllers' role is to supervise permanently flight evolution in airspace, to anticipate all the situations which present a risk of creating danger and to provide, in due course, the necessary instructions to pilots in order to ensure air safety following the rules of standard separation in time and in distance, established by the “International Civil Aviation Organization” (ICAO) .
The two essential means for carrying out air traffic control are radiotelephony and telephony.
The Radar, a complementary means, enables the controllers to see flight evolution on the screen within the limits of air coverage in order to ensure flight safety and expeditousness for more effective economy.
The total number of aircraft dealt with in 2009 by control services is 339 193 divided as follows :
Area Control Centre :
141 952 aircraft
  

Tunis Carthage Airport :
62 688 aircraft
Monastir Habib Bourguiba Airport :
31 158 aircraft
   Djerba Zarzis Airport :
26 369 aircraft
Sfax Thyna Airport :
32 789  aircraft
   Tozeur Nefta Airport :
3 391 aircraft
Tabarka Ain Draham Airport :
2 351 aircraft
   Gafsa Ksar Airport :
2 556 aircraft
Borj El Amri Airport :
35 939 aircraft
   Gabès Matmata Airport :
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To ensure an efficient air traffic control within Tunisian airspace boundaries and in order to follow technological evolution, the OACA endowed Air Navigation Centre with the most outstanding equipment.

In this way Area Control Centre of Tunis (ACC) provides :

Reliable radiocommunication means to ensure permanent contact with overflying and approaching aircraft ;

A Radar system allowing controllers to visualize traffic progress ;
A phone security network connected directly to the ACC and to each of the control towers ( ground and satellite networks ) .

A radiotelephony cover ( VHF ) of the whole Tunisian airspace guaranteed by two North and South advanced antenna centres which are both connected to the adjacent ACCs of Tunis, and a set of air navigation aids permitting effective materialization of the airways crossing Tunisia's space and serving its airports, for efficient air traffic safety and control.

AIR SAFETY

Within the field of search and rescue, and in order to preserve a high level of air safety, the following actions have been undertaken :

Participation in implementing a search and rescue centre (SAR ) ;
Adhesion of Tunisia as from August 5,1994 to the international program of search and rescue supported by satellites ( COSPAS / SARSAT ) ;
Acquisition of two distress beacon detectors operating on 121.5 / 243 MHz in case of aircraft accident.