I'm watching this thread with interest. The Highland jungle drums have indeed been beating.
I'm sure that minimising costs will be the prime factor for HIAL.
As far as I'm aware, Hial have listened to 3 proposals for establishing approach radar at Inverness.
The parties invloved were NATS, Serco and Marshall Aerospace.
By all accounts, the proposal by NATS included siting of a new radar for Inverness, and feeding this to Aberdeen - nice and simple. However, the cost quoted by NATS caused the Highland eyes to water somewhat and I'm led to believe it's a non-starter.
Marshall propose aiding HIAL to provide the service in house. (ie, providing the shortfall of ATC staff in the initial stages, thereby enabling Hial ATCOs to complete the requisite APS course followed by validation at Cambridge so that Inverness is not a 'first tour'. SRG are twitchy at the thought of 'green' radar controllers going into a green field unit.
But who knows for sure? Hial are going into very much unchartered territory for them.
On a side note, I couldn't help but notice that as soon as the 'Inverness Radar' thread appeared, another thread appeared titled, 'End of Radar for ATC?' Made me chuckle anyway!
