London City Airport has become the first major international airport in the world to be fully controlled by a remote digital air traffic control tower.
All flights in the heart of the London Docklands are being controlled by air traffic controllers 115km away at National Air Traffic Services’ (NATS’) air traffic control centre in Swanwick, Hampshire, using an ‘enhanced reality’ view supplied by a state-of-the-art 50m high digital control tower mast.
Sixteen high-definition cameras and sensors mounted on the mast capture a 360-degree view of the airport. This is relayed through a fibre connection to a new control room at NATS Swanwick. A dedicated team of controllers use the live footage, an audio feed and radar to control aircraft movements.
The airport’s digital control tower, pioneered by Saab Digital Air Traffic Solutions, was completed in 2019 and has been through an extensive period of testing before becoming fully operational. The 30-year-old analogue tower will be redeveloped for other purposes as part of City Airport’s modernisation programme.
Juliet Kennedy, Operations Director at NATS, comments: “This is the UK’s first major digital control tower and represents a significant technological and operational achievement, especially against the backdrop of COVID-19.”
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