How does the flight calibration process of navigation and monitoring equipment at Long Thanh airport take place?

Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation (VATM) said that at 6:00 a.m. this morning, September 26, 2025, the first flight to test the calibration of aviation navigation and surveillance equipment systems at Long Thanh International Airport approached Long Thanh airspace to conduct test and calibration flights.

At 6:00 a.m. on September 26, 2025, the first flight to test the calibration of aviation navigation and surveillance equipment systems at Long Thanh International Airport approached Long Thanh airspace to conduct test and calibration flights.

This marks an important milestone in the process of putting Long Thanh airport into operation after many days of meticulous preparation and smooth coordination between relevant units. On September 26, the aircraft will perform 30 consecutive technical flights including approach flights, level flights, and routine flights to test navigation signals according to ICAO regulations.

The flight to test the calibration of the navigation and aviation surveillance equipment systems at Long Thanh International Airport (including 2 ILS/DME systems, 2 PAPI systems, 1 ALS beacon system, 1 VOR/DME system, 1 PSR/SSR system, ADS-B and flight methods using ILS/DME, VOR/DME signals) is an important and timely step to put Long Thanh into operation from December 19, 2025 in accordance with the direction of the Prime Minister . The Flight Calibration Center (ATTECH Air Traffic Management Technical Limited Company, under VATM) has actively and urgently carried out related work.

On the morning of September 24, the Flight Calibration Center coordinated with the Long Thanh International Airport Project Management Board (Vietnam Airports Corporation) and the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam to inspect the actual infrastructure of the runway area, taxiways, and navigation and monitoring equipment at Long Thanh International Airport to ensure the conditions for conducting the calibration flight according to the plan granted by the Department of Operations (General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army) in flight permit No. 11452-TC/QC dated August 28, 2025.

During the inspection, the staff of the Flight Calibration Center coordinated with foreign experts to conduct surveys and collect coordinate location data of ILS/DME, PAPI navigation stations, runways, etc. to build a database to put into the aircraft calibration test equipment system to serve the calibration test flights of ILS/DME and PAPI Long Thanh systems.

At the end of the on-site inspection session, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam assessed the infrastructure conditions, runway facilities, taxiways, and related services including flight control and management, meteorological services, etc. to meet the requirements and be qualified for calibrated aircraft to perform calibration test flights as planned starting from September 26, 2025.

Also on September 24, 2025, another working group of the Calibration Flight Center coordinated with the flight crew to coordinate in detail the contents of the calibration flight with the Tan Son Nhat Approach Control Center, Long Thanh Air Traffic Control Station of the Southern Air Traffic Management Company on the content of the flight, flight area, communication terms between pilots and air traffic controllers during the calibration flight, solutions to regulate commercial flights to and from Tan Son Nhat International Airport, and agreed on the selection of a time frame for performing the calibration flight to ensure safety and have the least impact on civil aviation flight operations in the airspace approaching Tan Son Nhat.

On the afternoon of September 25, the leaders of the Air Traffic Management Engineering Company Limited - ATTECH directly inspected the preparations before the first calibration flight, and encouraged the members to participate in the task. During the first flights, ATTECH will conduct test flights and evaluate the ILS/DME/PAPI/ALS RWY 05R system. During the calibration flight, it also requires smooth coordination between the flight crew and the team of experienced ground experts to be ready to adjust and fine-tune each parameter to ensure all systems operate in the most optimal state.

THUY DUNG

Source: https://nhandan.vn/qua-trinh-bay-hieu-chuan-cac-thiet-bi-dan-duong-giam-sat-tai-san-bay-long-thanh-dien-ra-nhu-the-nao-post910679.html