Abu Dhabi-based Bayanat Airports Engineering & Supplies Company (BAES) has inked a partnership deal with Singapore-listed Stratech Systems for its intelligent airfield/runway surveillance and foreign object & debris (FOD) detection system.

A leading airport systems integrator in the region, BAES said as per the contract it will market, sell and deploy iFerret FOD detection system in the UAE market.

FOD refers to articles or wildlife found on runways, taxiways or aprons that could potentially damage aircraft or cause injuries. An example is the fatal Air France Concorde jet crash in 2000, involving FOD, when 113 lives were lost.

FOD also reportedly incurs an estimated $4 billion in repair and maintenance costs annually, and up to $13 billion per year including associated costs such as flight delays and cancellations, lost productivity and revenues, potential liabilities, and damaged reputation.

"We are happy to be in partnership with Stratech. We strongly believe that by deploying iFerret in the region, Bayanat together with Stratech will ensure increased safety for the passengers using the UAE hubs and higher operational efficiency for airports adopting this technology," said Alan Bourjeily, the GM of Bayanat Airports Engineering and Supplies.

Approved by the US FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), iFerret is the world’s first intelligent vision-based FOD detection system, providing real-time, automated detection, location, classification and recording.

It can be deployed in civil airports as well as military airbases, to help prevent potential aircraft damage and fatalities caused by FOD. The airports iFerret has been deployed include Changi International Airport in Singapore, Chicago O’Hare International Airport in the US and Düsseldorf International Airport in Germany.

Stratech executive chairman Dr David KM Chew said, “We are very excited to work in UAE with Bayanat which has almost three decades of experience in the airport industry. With their extensive network and portfolio in the region, there could be future opportunities to extend the partnership to the other parts of the rapidly-developing Middle East market too.”-TradeArabia News  Service