ILS Project

La Aurora and Tikal Airports

The project for instrument landing systems (ILS) for La Aurora airport, in Guatemala City, and Tikal airport, in the city of Santa Elena, Petén, was started by the end of 1997.

At each site a localizer and a glide slope, which form the ILS, were installed and certified.  These systems increase safety for air navigation and for facilities on the ground, both inside the airport boundaries and its vicinities. 

Such ILS systems were manufactured by the French firm Airsys ATM (formerly known as Thomson-CSF), whose headquarters are located at Bagneux, close to Paris, to where technical personnel from Dirección de Aeronáutica Civil were sent for training.

Since its initial operation, both airports have been open for air navigation without having weather conditions been a factor for deviating flights to other airports.

A picture of the ILS glide slope station at La Aurora (which started working for the first time guiding Air Force One for landing on March, 1999), has been posted on the web by www.airliners.net.