The International Civil Aviation Organization, the United Nations' aviation body, has announced the provision of a new air traffic services (ATS) interconnector between Europe and South America.
The Canada-based ICAO said the new service, which transfers messages between Caracas and Madrid, would help in "safeguarding the transmission of critical data such as flight plans and meteorological forecasts".
The messaging is handled within REDDIG, "a fully meshed internet protocol network that forms the regional segment of the global aeronautical telecommunication network", according to the ICAO.
“ICAO, on behalf of South American and some Caribbean governments, is the body responsible for the coordination, management, modernisation and administration of REDDIG,” said Fabio Rabnani, the ICAO regional director for South America, Fabio Rabbani.
The ICAO said the roll-out could be followed by a similar link between Johannesburg and Panama.