Wroclaw Airport with state-of-the-art landing system [PHOTOS, VIDEO]

The new system has been awarded the ILS CAT II certificate by the Civil Aviation Office. "This is a huge leap forwards, you can compare it only to when we launched a new terminal" says Dariusz Kuś, President of Wroclaw Airport.

This new state-of-the-art system makes Wroclaw Airport more attractive to a number of airlines. "The system helped us improve navigation at the airport, which in turn makes it more functional. The passengers will be travelling more comfortably as a result," says Dariusz Kuś, President of Wroclaw Airport."We are the only airport in Poland that is able to meet the strict requirements of ILS CAT II."

Revolutionary change

For Wroclaw Airport, the new certificate ILS CAT II means that aircraft will be able to take a decision to touch down at an altitude of 32 m (formerly 65 m) and runway visibility of 300 m (formerly 550 m). "This is unprecedented change," says Jarosław Wróblewski, Vice President of Wroclaw Airport. "Complicated as it is, the LVTO and LVP certification process for ILS CAT II is a strategic step forwards, which improves the safety of aviation operations in Wroclaw. It is worth noting that the system we have in Wroclaw is now one of the most advanced systems globally," he adds.

Additional flights

The new system means fewer cancelled aviation operations in adverse weather conditions. This brings a huge benefit to the passengers and airlines alike, since flights will be diverted to other airports more rarely. The carriers will be more willing to choose Wroclaw as a base for their aircraft. "Wroclaw Airport is joining the family of leading European airports. We are now also able to minimise the number of diverted flights in adverse weather conditions," says Jarosław Wróblewski. Having the investment in mind, Ryanair announced the decision to increase its fleet to three aircraft in Wroclaw and expand the offer with new destinations.

More about ILS II

The new navigation infrastructure comprises several different components. The ILS (Instrument Landing System) facilitates the landing of the aircraft in reduced visibility. The system is composed of aerial sets that indicate the runway and provide a precise descent path to touchdown. The system comes with specialist lighting and is complemented with the whole complex system designed to control and protect electrical and electronic systems that allows the individual control of its components. Modern and energy-saving navigation lighting was one of the key elements that made it possible to upgrade the ILS system to CAT II. "This includes approach, runway and taxiway lighting as well as the lighting control system. The airport was equipped with 2 thousand LED lights. Additionally, the system is a low-voltage one, which means it is also energy saving. The completion of all these investments opened a pathway to the ILS CAT II certificate," says Przemysław Marcinkowski, Infrastructure Director at Wroclaw Airport.The cost of the investment carried out at Wroclaw Airport to obtain the ILS CAT II certificate, including the complex process of the runway overhaul, was 50 million PLN.