MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Montevideo's Carrasco Airport to reach top international standards

Carrasco will be closed between August and September to update its ILS systems

Montevideo's Carrasco Airport's international status will be upgraded to a Category III B Instrument Landing System (ILS) after an investment of more than US$ 20 million. The improvement will enable safer and more efficient operations in adverse weather conditions. Work has already begun on the alternate runway and will be extended to the main runway in June.

The ILS system operates on a radio guidance system that transmits horizontal and vertical signals to automatically steer the aircraft to the touchdown zone; an advanced weather station equipped with distributed sensors to assess visibility, cloud ceiling, and wind conditions across both runways; and a network of over 2,000 LED lights, enabling pilots to navigate from the air to the apron, even in low-visibility conditions.

Currently, Carrasco operates under Category 1, which implies a minimum decision height of 60 meters and a minimum visibility of 800 meters. With Category 3, the pilot will be able to land with only 15 meters of decision height and no need for horizontal visibility. This improvement will avoid diversions to other airports in the region.

”The truth is that this is a great milestone for the country, for the [Aeropuertos Uruguay] company, and for Uruguayans to be able to travel more safely (...) Within the region, we would be at the level of (Arturo Merino International Airport in) Santiago de Chile, JFK in New York, (also) Charles de Gaulle in Paris, and Heathrow in the United Kingdom,” Infrastructure and Maintenance Manager Jorge Navarro said Wednesday.

The category III B Instrument Landing System (ILS) will make arrivals at the South American country's main air terminal “more predictable” in adverse weather conditions, since it allows landing under a safer automatic piloting system and when fog causes minimum visibility.

“This whole ILS system is installed at the airport and guides the aircraft in flight to the runway touchdown zone. First, we have the ILS, a radio aid that sends a horizontal and vertical electromagnetic signal that the pilot and aircraft sensors pick up in order to land,” he pointed out.

The work plan, which has already involved beaconing works and the installation of 290 LED lights on the airfield's secondary runway, will be completed with beaconing and paving works on the taxiways and the main runway, as well as the installation of an LED beaconing system with 2,000 new lights on the main runway.

During the work on the main runway, the secondary runway will be used. But given that both runways intersect, the airport will not operate in August and September to allow for work in that area.