HC Deb 18 July 2001 vol 372 cc201-2W
Mrs. Dunwoody

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many programme trouble reports there are in the air system controls at the new En Route Centre at Swanwick; and in each case, what the details and severity of the programme trouble reports are. [4616]

Mr. Spellar

There are currently 136 Programme Trouble Reports (PTRs) or "bugs" on the Swanwick systems that are required to be fixed before the unit enters operational service on 27 January 2002. Of these PTRs, fixes for 51 are scheduled for deployment on to the Swanwick software this week. Fixes for the remainder will be delivered in the software build which will be deployed to the operational system in November 2001. Listing the details and severity of each PTR would be extremely time-consuming and could be provided only at disproportionate expense.

Mrs. Dunwoody

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions in what circumstances a programme trouble report can cause an aircraft not to be shown on a controller's screen. [4618]

Mr. Spellar

NATS have informed us that no programme trouble reports logged in the development of the Swanwick systems have caused aircraft not to be shown on a controller's screen.

Mrs. Dunwoody

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how much extra traffic will be accommodated by the new air traffic control systems at the new En Route Centre at Swanwick in the first year of operation. [4617]

Mr. Spellar

When the Swanwick Centre enters operational service in January next year, the capacity of the unit will be constrained while ATC staff gain confidence and familiarity with the new equipment and procedures. As this confidence and competence improves, capacity will be slowly increased to match the capacity of the equivalent LATCC sectors. NATS anticipate that, by the end of summer 2002, capacity will increase by around 5 per cent.; and by a further 5 per cent. the following year.

Mrs. Dunwoody

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many workarounds relating to air system control there are at the new En Route Centre at Swanwick. [4619]

Mr. Spellar

NATS have informed us that the Swanwick systems contain no "workarounds", i.e. sub-optimal solutions to achieve system modifications.