MANILA: The Philippines said on Monday it would install a civilian flight-tracking system in the disputed South China Sea after China landed several aircraft on one of its man-made islands in the potential flashpoint region.

The automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) machine, which detects aircraft positions using satellite signals, will be operational by November on Pagasa island, the biggest Filipino-occupied feature in the disputed Spratlys, said Rodante Joya, acting director of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).

An average of 200 civilian flights pass over the Spratlys daily, Joya said, adding the Pagasa surveillance system was part of a broader $209 million effort to expand the country’s commercial flight radar coverage to 80 per cent from the current 30pc.

“Our objective is to track all commercial flights passing over our airspace,” Joya said, adding the radars would not be used to monitor military aircraft.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2016