In Colombia, geography can be destiny. Steep ridgelines, dense jungle, and narrow valleys carve parts of the South American country into isolated pockets of civilization where roads canāt always follow. In many communities, a townās main street doubles as its airstrip, and rivers are the only highway. A person might spend three hours by boat and another three by mule just to reach the neighboring town.Ā
An airplane can make some of these trips feasible. But threading safe flight routes through remote parts of Colombia is complex, riddled with such obstacles as high mountains and unpredictable weather, says Alexander Reyes GonzĆ”lez, leader of Air Navigation Affairs at SATENA, Colombiaās state-owned domestic airline.Ā
A safe flight route is a piece of invisible infrastructure, and thatās exactly where software from Bentley Systems, the infrastructure engineering software company, comes in. Its MicroStation software is typically used for building digital models of roads, bridges, tunnels, and other infrastructure. But SATENA relies on it to design flight maps and procedures that not only meet regulatory safety requirements but open entirely new routes.Ā Ā
That, in turn, helps satisfy SATENAās social mandate: to connect the most remote regions of the country to essential services, from healthcare to education to economic opportunity. That means flying to so-called social airports where other airlines donāt operate. On any given day, SATENA flies between roughly 60 destinations, linking about 150 āsocial routesā across mountains, jungle, and coastline.Ā Ā
For these towns, aviation isnāt a premium service. Itās often a lifeline.Ā
āThe software has contributed to opening new social air-transport routes,ā Reyes says. āIt ensures operational safety and regulatory compliance. It helps reduce COā emissions. And it supports SATENAās social mission to provide safe, essential air transport.āĀ
Designing "Invisible" Infrastructure
If a runway is a visible piece of infrastructure, a flight route is its invisible counterpart: a precisely defined three-dimensional path through the sky. āWe use MicroStation for designing the routes and the departure-and-approach procedures for our airplanes,ā Reyes says. āWe connect pairs of cities with navigation procedures that are safe, efficient, and tailored to the terrain.āĀ
The work begins with data from Colombiaās Civil Aviation Authority, including terrain elevations, obstacles, runway orientation and geometry, and aeronautical information. SATENA uses the softwareās mapping functions to ensure the runway is in the right location and then draws it. āIt saves immeasurable time compared to doing this manually,ā Reyes says.Ā
Once the runway is anchored in place, the team starts building āprotection areasāāthree-dimensional corridors that an aircraft must stay within to remain clear of obstacles, even if an engine fails during takeoff or climb, known as engine-out. With the buffers in place, āwe assign vertical levels for the aircraft, so pilots know what altitudes to fly to be safe,ā Reyes says.Ā
Why Microstation?
MicroStationās advantage has a lot to do with interoperability, Reyes says. āThe products we generate need to be coordinated closely with the Civil Aviation Authority. We donāt just design procedures and start flying them. We must coordinate so air-traffic controllers know these trajectories. Everything must be aligned.āĀ
To make that coordination work, SATENA uses MicroStationās native DGN format. The software also smoothly integrates with other tools, including terrain and visualization software. The team can bring in contour lines, georeferenced images, and even verify routes in Google Earthās 3D environment.Ā
As the design progresses, the team uses custom ācellsā to rapidly place waypoints and label themāoften thousands at a time. āThose points represent the route we are planning,ā Reyes says. āWe can assign names, import text, and identify each point. MicroStationās tools save a lot of time for us.āĀ
Once the route and protection areas are defined, SATENA extracts data from MicroStation and runs it through an in-house algorithm that calculates climb gradients and checks whether the aircraft can safely clear obstacles under different engine-out scenarios. When thatās done, the software will produce a graphical output, or chart, that pilots will use in the cockpit. These charts donāt just live on paper. Theyāre loaded into digital tablets where pilots can see their aircraft moving along the planned route in real time.Ā
Opening New Social Routes
The impact of this work is already visible on SATENAās route map. In Paipa, a remote social airport with little infrastructure, Bentley tools allowed SATENA to design a takeoff procedure using a runway direction opposite from the aviation authorityās original plan. āBy designing it the other way, we guaranteed a safe trajectory,ā Reyes explains. āThat made it possible to open the social route between Paipa and MedellĆn. Without that, it wouldnāt have been possible.āĀ
At a second site, called OcaƱa, a different challenge emerged because of its confined topography and steep surrounding mountains. The software allowed SATENA āto find a safe trajectory and maintain continuity of air operations,ā Reyes says. āPeople really depend on that service.āĀ
A Better-Connected Colombia
Reyesā own path reflects the blend of operations, engineering, and public service at the core of SATENAās work. He started as an air-traffic controller in the Colombian Air Force, serving for 20 years. He later specialized in flight-procedure design, became an electronic engineer, and studied statistics. He is now completing a masterās degree in project management.Ā
Reyes initially joined SATENA to help the airline comply with strict aviation regulations, especially around engine-out scenarios. But once he began that work, his team realized they could go beyond basic compliance. That meant designing procedures that would let pilots take off in adverse weather, navigate around terrain and obstacles with higher margins of safety, and land with greater reliability in challenging environments.Ā
āAnd later, we had the opportunity to design the en-route phase of flight with more direct routes,ā Reyes adds. āWhen routes become more direct, fuel consumption drops, and COā emissions decrease. So, thereās also an environmental benefit.āĀ
For Reyes, the technical work is never just about lines on a screen. āThis is safety. It is social contribution. It is connectivity. It is development: economic development, social development, and cultural development.āĀ
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FAQ
How does MicroStation improve flight safety?
The software creates 3D “invisible infrastructure” like safety corridors and precise departure procedures. It ensures aircraft stay clear of mountains and jungle, even in emergencies.
How does flight optimization reduce CO2 emissions?
Direct routes significantly decrease fuel consumption by avoiding unnecessary detours. These trajectories provide a more sustainable way to reach remote regions.
Why are “social routes” vital for isolated communities?
These routes are a lifeline for towns where geography makes roads impossible. They provide essential access to healthcare, education, and economic opportunities.
