German air traffic services provider DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung has put into operation its new Thales (formerly Thomson-CSF) Information Systems-developed aeronautical information services (AIS) pilot briefing system.
The agency says the Frankfurt Airport-based DFS Integrated AIS System (DIAS) offers airspace users "significantly improved service" with its ability to store 35,000 worldwide notices to airmen (NOTAMs) which are continuously updated.
"This new system provides route- and altitude-related pre-flight information service on the basis of the filed flight plan," says DFS. "A briefing as precise as this one was not possible with the old system since the briefing officer had first to convert the flight plan into individual route elements."
The 17 pilot briefing offices at German airports, plus some external customers, will have access to five regional database servers using their own terminals, and DFS plans eventually to provide pilots with "self-briefing" terminals with access to DIAS.
DFS's next step is to provide pilots with access to the AIS database at home via the internet.
DIAS is operated by new DFS business unit Aeronautical Data Management, and will be used as the basis of the Aeronautical Information Service Center (AIS-C). It is due to become fully operational by 2004, providing pre-flight information services to airspace users.
Source: Flight International
