West Pacific Airlines

Is it possible to manage airport flights without passing through the air traffic control tower? The answer is yes. According to a report by the Financial Times and Forbes magazine, the first airport in the world with no air traffic control tower will appear on December 22.

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This winter, the Scandinavian Mountain Airport will be the first airport in the world to not build an air traffic control tower on the airport floor, while the airport will have a virtual tower – an air traffic remote control system. The system is located in Sundsvall, about 300 km from the airport. The controller will manage the flight by receiving relevant data and guide the pilot to safe flight through multiple cameras and special sensing equipment at the airport.

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Currently, Sundsvall’s air traffic remote control system has been responsible for flights to the small airport of Örnsköldvik in northern Sweden, as well as flights to nearby Timra airport. These airports gradually idled the already built towers in the airport about three years ago and transferred the air traffic control work to the virtual tower of Sundsvall. The controller can observe the real-time environment in and around the airport 360 degrees through a series of high-definition displays on the wall.

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This alternative phenomenon is becoming more common in small airports with a small number of flights, while the Scandinavian Mountain Airport is the first airport in the world to have no towers or other towers to manage flights. According to The Economist, in Norway, 15 airports have closed their towers and transferred their flight management to a remote control system. The report also shows that airports in Europe, the United States, and Australia are testing their virtual towers. The Daily Telegraph also reported that the London City Airport has transferred some of its air traffic control operations to the air traffic remote control system on the outskirts of Southampton, 128 kilometers from the airport.

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Aviation expert John Walton said through Lonely Planet magazine that airports and air traffic control organizations have been testing this 'remote' control system since the beginning of this century, and that technology has now passed. Safety test. In addition, with the use of augmented reality technology, air traffic controllers can gain more effective information while improving operational efficiency, and airports can manage their flights through any remote control system in the world. He also explained that this remote control system is even more reliable than traditional towers. Let us imagine that if the traditional tower sounded a fire alarm, it would mean evacuating the tower staff and urgently shutting down the airport. In this case, if it occurs in the virtual tower, the operation data of the virtual tower that has a fire can be transferred to another virtual tower, thereby minimizing the possible losses.