Nav Canada announced the first flight over Hudson Bay using Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), closing an 850,000-square-kilometer gap in radar coverage.

The first use of ADS-B on Jan. 15 involved Air New Zealand Flight 1, a Boeing 777-200, enroute from London to Los Angeles. The flight was tracked by a controller at the Montreal Area Control Center for about 25 minutes as it flew over Hudson Bay.

ADS-B promises more efficient use of Hudson Bay airspace for some 35,000 flights a year, with savings in fuel costs, flight times and emissions.

Nav Canada, the country’s civil air navigation services provider, in the coming years will expand ADS-B coverage over the eastern coast of Canada and parts of Greenland. Selection and preparation of sites is underway.