“Al Nawras” is a flight permission and scheduling system and the first aviation approval online system in the Middle East; completely developed and led in-house by women staff members of the Information Systems Directorate in the Ministry (MTT). The project automates the entire manual paper-based flight approval and scheduling process done by the Air Transport Directorate to an efficient, reliable, highly available, accurate, environment friendly and cost-cutting electronic system. The main goal is to simplify and streamline the aviation services offered to all airlines, agents or private aircraft owners worldwide and establish higher levels of convenience, support and access for the international aviation community. Al Nawras provides the means to apply for Flight Landing Permits, Flight Overflying Permits and Flight Scheduling Permits online from any electronic device at any time. Any aircraft landing to Bahrain, overflying through Bahrain’s flight airspace/region, or operating a seasonal flight schedule must get a flight permit through Al Nawras.
The system integrates several internal and external entities involved in the flight approval process and allows them to automate their part of the approval process, do their tasks and take decisions all through one central system saving cost, time and efforts. The internal entities using the system are the Air Transport, Aeronautical Licensing, Air Navigation and the Financial Resources Directorates. The external entities are Bahrain Airport Company and Bahrain Airport Services. The system also provides monitoring screens for Air Traffic Controllers to monitor flights permitted to land or overfly. It currently provides services to around 1,600 users and has reduced the processing time significantly from days to minutes provided that all the needed requirements are submitted correctly. It also focuses on improving the safety and security of aviation by making sure the e-services have the checks and controls that adhere to international laws and regulations.

https://www.fps.gov.bh/

• International

• Youth
• Women
• Remote and rural communities
• Civil Aviation Authorities, Airlines and Agents companies, Private Aircraft Owners, Airports, Airport Services, Air Traffic Controllers, Governments, Government Organizations, Decision Makers, Passengers and the Aviation Community.

Al Nawras is a replicable project because the system is designed, developed and structured is a way that allows any aviation authority worldwide to customize it easily and adopt it for their operations. It adheres to the aviation standards and terminology followed internationally which would meet the required features and controls by any organization. The automated flight permit workflow can be easily modified and customized to suit the requirements of other countries. “Al Nawras” is a Web-based system that can utilize web services APIs which provides great opportunities to build applications and integrate with any platform. It utilizes the best practices in technology to ensure high quality services with high security, availability, accuracy, efficiency and cost reduction which makes it replicable by any organization or authority looking for an outstanding quality of service. Moreover, the system was built and designed in an innovative flexible way using technology that allows the integration and addition of other stakeholders and entities which makes it easily adaptable by other organizations. The was clearly shown as we easily added different entities to the system for their part of the flight approval process.

Al Nawras is sustainable and continues to operate, grow and develop due to the following factors:
- It is developed completely in-house by the software development team in MTT, with a low implementation cost only for the development software license and the cloud server. The ministry owns the source code which makes fixing issues, adding any future improvements or expanding the scope of the system easy and with no additional cost.
- The system is flexible and designed in a way that allows it to accommodate any additions in user types, customized pages/dashboards. There is no limit to the e-services that can be added.
- The system is hosted in the cloud which allows us to utilize all scalability mechanisms available to further develop the system.
- The system continues to increase the revenue collected form the aviation services since all users applying for permits need to register for accounts with their up-to-date accurate information.
- As mentioned in the description, in addition to airlines and agents, it is also being used by 7 more types of users, internal and external, and there are plans to add more to further expand and improve the quality of the service.
- We’re getting positive response and feedback from the system users and entities as it helped them automate their own process, save cost and efforts, use the system as an archive for historical information and for analytical reporting.
- It has a direct link to MTT’s strategic goal focusing on regulating and developing the air transportation sector in Bahrain by enhancing its connectivity to regional and international markets and improve the safety and security of aviation and activating CAA’s regulatory and supervisory role. It is also linked to the Economy and Finance priorities in the government work plan and the Kingdom’s Economic Vision 2030 by delivering better quality services via more efficient organizations and operations.

Al Nawras promotes shared services, responsibility and digital solidarity by providing one unified system to all the users and entities integrated within the flight approval system. It strengthens the cooperation and relationship between the ministry, regional and international aviation customers and stakeholders by involving them in integral parts of the project and the usage of the online system. In addition, the system focuses on the use of technology that promotes transparency and accuracy. All airlines and agents applying for flight permits are treated the same way and provided with the same tools through the system where their information is saved securely and accurately then processed equally within efficient time limits. This helps build a trusting relationship between Bahrain’s Civil Aviation Authority in MTT and its customers which in turn fosters cooperation and business opportunities for all. Registered users can access the system and the services anytime as it is fully online and transparent to all. The same with the internal and external entities and organizations using the system, they are all given the same tools that enables them to perform their part of the flight approval process and benefits their business. It also promotes innovation in technology for better economy by applying the best practices to fix all the issues that were causing loss in revenue. Also, it supports and encourages innovation and creativity in the ministry’s employees by depending entirely on the internal IT team with no outsource involvement to develop and expand the system. Furthermore, the project is consistent with sustainability goals of WSIS, MTT and Bahrain as it was mainly initiated and developed to transform the old process to an advanced continuously growing and developing e-business system. The system made it easier for aviation companies to reach and communicate with MTT easily which allowed for more business and as a result growth in economy and better life quality for all.