Airports with No Control Towers Are Already Here!

Dozens of commercial planes landing at Ornskoldsvik Airport in northern Sweden each day are unaware the control tower is actually unmanned. The planes are being guided in by controllers viewing the video at another airport 90 miles away.

Ornskoldsvik Airport is a vital lifeline for residents who want to get to Stockholm and the rest of the world. But with just 80,000 annual passengers, it can't justify the cost of a full-time control staff — about $175,000 a year in salary, benefits and taxes for each of six controllers.

Ornskoldsvik is the first airport in the world to use such technology. Others in Europe are testing the idea, as is one airport in the United States.

The system is called Remote Tower System (RTS) created by Saab, the Swedish defence and security company, allows high definition images, and all other relevant real-time data of the regional airport to be projected onto television screens - thought to be more useful than windows - at the RTC, the remote air control office in Sundsvall.

A simulated digital visual of what one might see from a local control tower when looking out onto the runway is created at the RTC using data collected by several high-tech devices including “high definition and pan-tilt zoom cameras, surveillance and meteorological sensors, microphones, signal light guns and other devices for deployment at the airport”. If something changes — such as birds or deer crossing the runway — alerts are issued.

Saab is currently testing — and seeking regulatory approval — for remote systems in Norway and Australia and has contracts to develop the technology for another Swedish airport and two in Ireland.

Competitor Searidge is working on a remote tower for the main airport in Budapest, Hungary. That airport serves 8.5 million passengers annually and, within two years, controllers could be stationed a few miles from the airport.

Saab is also taking some aspects of this technology to the United States.
Leesburg Executive Airport in Virginia is a relatively busy airport with 300 daily takeoffs and landings. Just a few miles from Dulles International Airport, Leesburg does not have its own control tower. A regional air traffic control center clears private jets into the airspace and then pilots use an established radio frequency to negotiate the landing and takeoff order. That often leads to delays.

Saab has built a system for Leesburg and on Aug. 3 started a three-month test with the Federal Aviation Administration. FAA controllers will, at first, familiarize themselves with the technology and just observe the planes operating as they already do today. If the FAA approves, the next phase would be to start clearing planes onto taxiways and to take off and land.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association says it is participating in the testing.

Towers for large commercial airports are expensive. They need elevators, air conditioning and heating, fire suppression systems plus room for all the controllers. A new tower in Oakland, California that opened in 2013 cost $51 million. Towers at smaller airports are cheaper. Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport opened a new one in February at a cost of $15.4 million. Saab won't detail the cost of its system except to say it is "significantly less." There is no need for a tower and elevator.

The companies see a giant market: The vast majority of U.S. commercial airports — 315 of 506 — have control towers. However, only 198 of the 2,825 general aviation airports have manned towers.

This is a real paradigm shift for the industry and as a pilot I have my concerns. What happens if terrorists or a simple glitch in the system brings the cameras down at a busy airport? Emergency procedures will need to be created and implemented to avoid any type of disaster. All this will worry both pilots and passengers, but eventually it will be widely accepted. The next step of this evolution will be when artificial intelligence becomes the new air traffic controller…

Fabrizio Poli is an Aviation Analyst & Managing Partner of Boutique Aviation Company Tyrus Wings. He is also an accomplished Airline Transport Pilot having flown both private Jets and for the airlines. Fabrizio is also a bestselling author and inspirational speaker & has been featured in the Daily Telegraph, Wealth X, Financial Times, El Financiero and many other Media offering insight on the aviation world. You can tune in weekly to Fabrizio's business Podcast Living Outside the Cube available both in video & audio.

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