Bermuda’s modernisation of its air traffic management will allow the Island to become a certified air navigation service provider, Transport Minister Shawn Crockwell told Members of Parliament yesterday upon resumption at the House of Assembly. “Significant costs” involved in the process will be recouped in user charges, Mr Crockwell added.

The total modernisation is to take five to ten years, the minister said, and an added surcharge of $28 per air passenger has been proposed to generate $10 million a year to cover expenses.

The Island’s certification as a provider would allow Bermuda to expand its area of airspace for air traffic management from the existing five-mile radius, out to as much as 50 miles — and potentially farther “at a much later stage”, Mr Crockwell said.

Expanded operations should be in place to support “the anticipated increase in flight operations surrounding the upcoming America’s Cup”.

In the long term, the modifications at LF Wade International Airport could potentially allow Bermudian air traffic controllers to direct the movement of flights en route.

The updates came as the Transport Minister rose to inform the House of his London visit in December, accompanied by local aviation officials, to present the findings of the Bermuda Approach Control and Airspace Modernisation Feasibility Survey.

That survey was undertaken in December 2013 when the Department of Airport Operations teamed with Boeing Digital Aviation, and it was completed in August of last year.

At present, Bermuda’s airspace is controlled by the US Federal Aviation Administration, but the improvements pave the way for the Island to take control of its own airspace.