Belgrade Airport launches counter drone system

GLOBAL AVIATION NEWS

Doha becomes Middle East’s busiest

In the battle to be the pre-eminent travel hub in the Middle East, the latest research from ForwardKeys has revealed that Doha seized and consolidated a lead over Dubai in the first half of 2021. In the period January 1 -June 30, the volume of air tickets issued for travel via Doha was 18% higher than it was through Dubai; and that relationship looks set to continue. Current bookings for the second half of the year through Doha are 17% higher than through Dubai. At the start of the year, air traffic through Doha was at 77% of Dubai; but it quickly reached 100% for the first time during the week commencing January 27. The major factor driving the trend was the lifting, of the blockade of flights to and from Qatar this January, which was imposed in June 2017 by Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, who accused Qatar of sponsoring terrorism - an accusation it strongly denies. Since January, five routes were restored by Qatar Airways in the region and new routes launched further afield. Olivier Ponti, Vice President of insights at ForwardKeys, said, “Without the blockade, which encouraged the establishment of new routes as a strategy to replace lost traffic, perhaps we would not have seen Doha charging past Dubai. So, it seems that the seeds of Doha’s relative success were, ironically, sown by the adverse actions of its neighbours. However, one needs to bear in mind that flights through the Middle East during first half of 2021 were still 81 per cent below pre-pandemic levels. So, as the recovery gathers pace, the picture could change significantly”. The last major factor, which has given Qatar an edge over Dubai, has been its reaction to the pandemic. During the height of the Covid-19 crisis, many routes in and out of Doha remained operational, with the result that Doha became a major hub for repatriation flights - most notably to Johannesburg and Montreal.
Source: Breaking Travel News

Belgrade Airport launches counter drone system

NEWS FLASH

Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport has deployed nine security scanners and a counter drone system from Rohde & Schwarz to maintain air traffic security. Commercially available drones pose severe risks to aircraft and their sightings have even caused flight suspensions. In order to prevent such situations, Belgrade Airport has procured and put into operation a counter drone system from Rohde & Schwarz that can detect drones even before they take off, classify the device type and notify when a drone’s remote control has been switched on. The sensor system can also capture the uplink for tracking down the drone pilot while their aerial device is still on the ground, thereby enabling security personnel to find the drone pilot and initiate electronic countermeasures. In addition, the uplink signal can also be disrupted, causing the drone to switch to failsafe mode. Under Serbian law, drones are prohibited from flying within a five kilometre radius around the airport unless given prior consent by the country's Civil Aviation Directorate.

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