Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (Hial) has launched a drive to find contractors for work worth up to £5 million to develop its planned centralised air traffic control system.
The publicly-owned company has issued a contract notice as it seeks to appoint a panel of firms to provide technical and business support for the project.
The organisation, which operates 10 terminals in the Highlands and islands and Dundee Airport, said it expected to attract “global suppliers” as well as small and medium-sized businesses.
The project will see air traffic control for seven of Hial’s terminals carried out from a centralised hub, expected to be in Inverness.
A Hial spokesman said: “We are creating a panel of suppliers to provide technical and business support on the next phase of our ATMS (Air Traffic Management Strategy) programme. At this stage, we are paying particular focus on air space design, procurement and cyber security. We expect to have interest from global suppliers but also small and medium-sized businesses.
“As the programme moves into the tender phase, activities will gather pace and clarification on systems and timescales will become available.”
