Remote tower control milestone

More than 2,200 flights operating into and out of Saarbrücken International Airport have now been handled by air traffic controllers at Germany’s Remote Tower Control (RTC) Centre at Leipzig, 450km away.

The German air navigation service provider, DFS (Deutsche Flugischerung), last December became the first worldwide to introduce RTC at an airport that has more than 15,000 flight movements a year. (see BTN Remote ATC in Germany)

DFS CEO Klaus-Dieter Scheurle said: “The introductory weeks proved successful and the RTC Centre handled all take-offs and landings safely and without traffic delays.

“The system has met our expectations. We are focusing on the integration of Erfurt Airport, which is planned for next year, and Dresden Airport, which has around 36,500 aircraft movements a year – significantly more than the other two – will follow later.”

DFS developed the system with Austrian high-tech specialist Frequentis. The DFS subsidiary, DFS Aviation Services, and Frequentis have now set up a joint venture, Aerosense to deliver turnkey remote sensing solutions combining their expertise.

Scheurle noted that the RTC solution could be customised for different scenarios, making it suitable not only for small and medium-size airports but also for contingency solutions and larger facilities.

www.dfs.de/dfs_homepage/en

www.frequentis.com/en

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