The Aeropath team is delighted to be announced the CANSO Global Safety Achievement Award 2022 winner for its development of Flight Advisor, the web-based mapping tool which enhances safety for pilots flying at low levels in uncontrolled airspace.

CANSO announced Aeropath’s Aeronautical Information Management team as the winner of this prestigious safety award for the global air traffic management industry, during a ceremony at Airspace World 2023 in Geneva. Aeropath is a subsidiary of Airways International Ltd, and provides New Zealand’s Aeronautical Information Management service.

Developed by Aeropath in collaboration with its customer the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF), Flight Advisor provides RNZAF pilots and civilian operators with an awareness of traffic and potential hazards when operating at low levels, giving pilots operating in this uncontrolled airspace the information they need to keep themselves and other low level airspace users safe.

Users of this interactive mapping tool can create a flight advisory to outline their planned area of operations and make other operators aware of their intended flight path, and they can easily report any uncharted hazards or obstacles by dropping a geolocation pin on the map. 

More than 700 operators across New Zealand are now using Flight Advisor, and are reporting enhanced levels of safety in low level airspace as a result of the tool.

Matt Day, Aeropath’s Manager Aeronautical Information Management, says Flight Advisor is the result of a significant team effort between the RNZAF and Aeropath. The Flight Advisor concept was developed when the RNZAF approached Aeropath to help them address the problem of better informing low level operators of hazards, and making operators aware of each other when in the same area of airspace.

“We’re extremely proud to receive this award, on behalf of Aeropath and the RNZAF – Flight Advisor wouldn’t have been possible without the initiative, funding and leadership of the RNZAF to drive the tool’s development. We’re thrilled that together we’ve been able to create something that’s so simple to use, and delivers such tangible safety benefits to New Zealand’s aviators,” Mr Day says.

Osman Saafan, Chair of the CANSO Safety Standing Committee, says: “I would like to congratulate the Aeropath team on this great achievement. Safety in aviation is not given, it must be assured every day. The many nominations we received for this award might remind us how many people globally use their expertise and creativity every day to successfully contribute to our mission of safety in aviation.”