The government should consider foreign players when it procures air traffic control systems, according to the head of the Japanese operation of Thales, a leading avionics maker based in France.
"We are providing, quite substantially, better systems than any other (maker) in the world, and the open market recognizes it by placing orders to Thales," Michel Theoval, president of Thales International Japan K.K., said in a recent interview. "For all of the world -- except for the U.S. and Japan -- we have the biggest share of the market by far."
The United States accounts for 50 percent and Japan 4 percent of the world market for ATC systems. Both countries are closed to foreign avionics manufacturers, Theoval claimed.