Hambantota International Airport in Sri Lanka, which is to open later this year, is to be equipped with a secure TETRA radio communications network. Destined to be the country’s second international airport, it is being built by the China Harbour & Engineering Company Limited (CHEC), which has chosen Cassidian to supply its Claricor TETRA technology.

Designed to meet the needs of airports and other users in industry and transport, Claricor offers many of the functions of larger networks, including secure voice and data services, individual and group calls and dispatcher functions. Claricor can easily be expanded from a single site covering a small group of users to a fully-fledged network addressing the needs of several thousand subscribers.

At Hambantota International Airport, the new network will include an Automatic Vehicle Location function and will be capable of being integrated with planned airport security systems.

“We are proud to have been chosen by CHEC and the Airport Authority of Sri Lanka, and welcome their decision to award this new mission-critical TETRA radio communication system to Cassidian”, said Ehud Weizman, head of sales and marketing for public safety, Indian Subcontinent. “This award is a sign of our customers’ confidence in our technology. It is our second TETRA system in the country. The first system of this type is in the final stage of implementation and about to start operations at Bandaranaike International Airport, Colombo.”

Installation, commissioning and activation of the Claricor system will be performed by the Sri Lanka-based company Queens Radio Marine Electronics, Cassidian’s value-added reseller in Sri Lanka, in co-operation with the Cassidian team based in India.