{{No footnotes, date=August 2020
Gander Automated Air Traffic System (GAATS) is a proprietary system of
Nav Canada
Nav Canada (styled as NAV CANADA) is a privately run, non-profit corporation that owns and operates Canada's civil air navigation system (ANS). It was established by statute in accordance with the ''Civil Air Navigation Services Commercializati ...
used for the oceanic airspace of the GanderArea Control Centre (ACC).
Most of the airspace is not monitored by radar, so procedures differ from those in continental airspaces. GAATS is an oceanic
air traffic management
file:ATMANS.png, 334x334px,
Air traffic management (ATM) aims at ensuring the safe and efficient flow of air traffic. It encompasses three types of services:
* air traffic services (ATS) including air traffic control (ATC), air traffic advisory s ...
system that automatically processes flight data and provides air traffic controllers with a radar-like picture of traffic in oceanic airspace. GAATS also provides automatic waypoint reports, and use of Controller Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC) which is text-based messaging for such routine requests as altitude changes. GAATS brings significant safety and efficiency benefits to North Atlantic airspace.
North Atlantic airspace is the busiest oceanic airspace in the world with about 1,300 flights a day, most of which are large commercial carriers. More than half the flights follow the
North Atlantic Tracks
The North Atlantic Tracks, officially titled the North Atlantic Organised Track System (NAT-OTS), are a structured set of transatlantic flight routes that stretch from eastern North America to western Europe across the Atlantic Ocean, within th ...
but about 40% are 'random', with flight plans not on tracks, such as search/rescue and others. Nav Canada shares control of this airspace with its
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
counterpart, the
National Air Traffic Services
NATS Holdings, formally National Air Traffic Services and commonly referred to as NATS, provides en-route air traffic control services to flights within the UK flight information regions and the Shanwick Oceanic Control Area. It also provide ...
(NATS).
The GAATS technology is now used by NATS’
Shanwick Oceanic Control
Shanwick is the air traffic control (ATC) name given to the area of international airspace which lies above the northeast part of the Atlantic Ocean.
The Shanwick Oceanic Control Area (OCA) abuts Reykjavík OCA to the north, Gander OCA to the ...
with Nav Canada and the UK ANS provider collaborating on flight management for the whole of North Atlantic airspace.
The Gander ACC ("Gander Centre", CZQX) is responsible for controlling aircraft in the western half of the North Atlantic oceanic airspace. The Gander oceanic airspace is bounded to the north by the Icelandic Control Center, on the east by the
Prestwick, Scotland
Prestwick () is a town in South Ayrshire on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland about southwest of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr to the south on the Firth of Clyde coast, the centre of which is about south, and the small vill ...
, control centre, to the south by the Portuguese control centre in the
Azores
The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...
, and finally to the southwest by the New York Air Route Traffic Control Center.
GAATS traffic management capabilities are achieved through the tight integration between air traffic, airspace and weather models. Operational flexibility and workload balancing are further enhanced through dynamic sectorization.
Specifically, GAATS gives controllers increased situational awareness by having on-screen access to data from a variety of sources, as well as a visual display of the aircraft positions, much as a radar controller would. Among the many features available, controllers can use this new computing and display power to view projected routes and their timelines, and to help avoid potential conflicts.