SITA provides biometric border management systems for Oman, Bulgarian, Romanian

SITA recently provided its iBorders border management solutions and services to the government of Oman to facilitate the country’s visitor movement and streamline its visa and residence permit processes, according to a report by Travel Daily News.

Taking a layered approach to border control, SITA provided the Royal Oman Police with an effective and flexible visa processing and security clearance process, which includes eVisas, advanced passenger processing, and entry exit visitor information systems.

“SITA is providing Oman with a fully integrated border management solution, as well as the tools to manage, monitor and operate its borders effectively,” said Hani El-Assaad, SITA president of the Middle East, India and Africa. “This will enable them to provide the highest quality experience at the first point of contact for its visitors, and will be flexible to facilitate future growth.”

Under the terms of the agreement, SITA’s comprehensive iBorders solution includes risk assessment of traveller data from air and cruise lines, a complete border control system used at immigration checkpoints across Oman, a full e-Visa solution and a centralized visitor information system.

The solution is fully integrated into Oman’s existing border management systems to provide officers with complete information about each traveler, including biometrics and historical data.

SITA’s iBorders solution will be deployed at 28 airports, seaports and land border crossings throughout Oman, as well as more than 15 regional offices and more than 50 Omani embassies and consulates around the world.

Four data centers will support the technologies, providing scalable capacity and redundancy. SITA also operates a comprehensive training program to instruct all government users and technical employees on how to operate the system.

Aside from its customers in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, SITA has provided its iBorders border management solutions and services to more than 20 global countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore, Spain, the UK and the USA.

More recently, SITA OnAir signed a partnership to improve air traffic communications in the Danube Functional Airspace Block by supplementing voice with the more reliable data link.

SITA OnAir has partnered with air navigation service providers Bulgarian Air Traffic Services Authority (BULATSA), and the Romanian Air Traffic Services Administration (ROMATSA) to provide Controller Pilot Data Link Communication (CPDLC) services to the control centers.

The services enable air traffic controllers and pilots to communicate via text, instead of the traditional voice communication, which significantly improves the quality of communications, as well as the overall safety and efficiency of air traffic management.

New European regulations have made it mandatory for all aircrafts flying in Europe and all air traffic control ground systems to be equipped with CPDLC.

SITA OnAir worked closely with both BULATSA and ROMATSA to implement the network to facilitate communications across ATN, which included provisioning ATN routers and VHF ground stations across each country to allow both ANSPs to implement datalink communication between the aircraft pilots and ground controllers.

The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) recently selected SITA OnAir to improve aircraft communications across Nigeria, complying with the safety recommendations of ICAO’s regional Air Navigation.

As part of the multi-year agreement, SITA OnAir is providing Controller Pilot Data Link Communication (CPDLC) and Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Contract (ADS-C) solutions and services at the Lagos and Kano Control Centers to improve long range data communication between air traffic controllers and pilots.

Previously reported, Abu Dhabi International Airport recently deployed SITA’s new automated passport control kiosks, which enables passengers travelling to the United States to pre-clear U.S. Customs and Immigration

Article Topics

airports  |  biometrics  |  border management  |  customs  |  electronic visa  |  Entry/Exit System (EES)  |  ePassports  |  SITA