Myanmar’s airspace is getting cozy. Between 2010 and 2015, as the country began to open up, international flights to Yangon more than tripled. More than 30 airlines now fly here.
Until now, the country has used ground-based radar as a monitoring system, but the technology reportedly struggles with Myanmar’s rough terrain and remote areas.
The solution: satellites. The Department of Civil Aviation intends to sign up to a satellite system from Aireon, a US firm, and have it operational by 2018, the Myanmar Times reports.
“The Aireon system will offer us increased safety and visibility that exceeds the capabilities of ground-based infrastructure,” Soe Paing, director of Air Navigation Safety at the DCA, told the Times.
Satellites enable planes traveling in remote areas or over water to be tracked with accuracy.
The technology gathered support after flight MH370 went missing en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in 2014.
Representatives from more than 160 countries signed up to an agreement to implement satellite tracking at a conference last year.
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