Multiple airports controlled from one control centre? SESAR JU reports on the project development

In the future, today’s airport towers could be replaced by control centres to which several airports are connected for remote control, according to findings posted from a SESAR JU project. SESAR reports that the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) and Frequentis set up a remote tower centre prototype from which Lithuanian and Polish air traffic controllers provided aerodrome traffic services to a total of 15 simulated airports. The trial showed that the idea of large-scale remote tower centres works.

Rather than relying on a few air traffic controllers in a single tower, there is a whole pool of air traffic controllers working in a remote tower centre, which means they can be deployed more flexibly when needed. Smaller airports in particular, where demand is high on weekends and public holidays but low during the week, can be operated more efficiently this way, it’s claimed, with initial feedback from the participating controllers showing the viability of the concept.

You can find out more about the project here.