The functions of the Air Traffic Service (ATS) Division are indispensable to safety and efficiency of the entire civil aviation industry in Solomon Islands. Its functions include air traffic control, flight information and alerting services and ground support facilities. The performance of these functions is formally accented under the Civil Aviation Act 2008 and ICAO Conventions.
In the international context, Annex 11 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation outlines the functional role of air traffic services and the Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) applicable for the provision of Air Traffic services.
The principal objective of air traffic services, as defined in the Annex 11, is to prevent collisions between aircraft, during taxiing on the manoeuvring area, taking off, landing, en route or in the holding pattern at the destination aerodrome. Annex 11 also deals with ways of improving and maintaining an orderly flow of air traffic and of providing advice and information for the safe and efficient conduct of flights and alerting service for aircraft in distress. In synchronising to these international requirements, the Air Traffic Service Division hosts Flight Information Centres (FICs) and the Air Traffic Control Units to manage air traffic services.