Writer

Amy Laboda

In the world of for-profit air traffic control systems, efficiency equals revenue. Many air traffic control entities are watching SESAR 2020’s PJ05 project, dubbed Remote Tower for Multiple Airports, in anticipation of cashing in on its promises of remotely controlling traffic for more than one airport from a single site. Last month, Lithuanian air navigation service provider Oro Navigacija (ON), DLR (the national aeronautics and space research center of the Federal Republic of Germany), and systems supplier Frequentis performed their second validation exercise for multiple remote towers being worked by a controller at a single-site off-airport.

 


“Air navigation service providers in more than 20 countries already experience the advantages of our tower automation solutions,” said Hannu Juurakko, vice president, ATM civil at Frequentis. Austria-based Frequentis is an international supplier of communication and information systems for control centers with safety-critical tasks. The company’s American outpost is located in Columbia, Maryland, and serves the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Department of Defense, and the public safety community in the United States.

 


“Single” remote tower tests were deployed in former projects, including one in Virginia; however, the company realized that the largest cost savings can be achieved when one controller works multiple airport towers from a single center. The&nbsp;SESAR 2020&nbsp;PJ05 project is progressively proving that remotely controlling multiple airports is a feasible task for a single controller, given reasonable traffic volume.

 


In November 2017,&nbsp;Frequentis, HungaroControl, DLR, and Selex ES&nbsp;(Leonardo LTP) conducted a successful validation campaign on “Remote Tower for Multiple airports” in Braunschweig, Germany.

 


Hungarian controller Gábor Draschitz participated in the event, noting afterward: “It is clear that intensive technical development will be needed, and a lot of effort awaits those working on the procedures and the legal environment.”

 


His colleague Emese Kisfaludy said, “It was a great challenge to put our minds and skills on test as tower controllers. The developed technology was helpful and futuristic at the same time. There’s a lot to research further to answer questions and make the multi-remote concept really safe, useful, and efficient in the near future.”

 


Most recently, over the course of two days in late March, one controller provided air traffic services to three Lithuanian airports simultaneously. Also, in a real-time simulation at the DLR Air Traffic Validation Centre, six Lithuanian controllers managed extensive traffic in a mixed VFR/IFR environment. Human factors and simulation experts from DLR’s Institute of Flight Guidance conducted the validation exercise, in which controllers ran four different scenarios, each lasting 50 minutes.

 


The controllers used a flight strip planning system from Frequentis, a three-screen radar display, and a three-screen real-time outside view that included pan-tilt-zoom capability. On the audio side, the controllers used an integrated voice communication system. Controllers handled both air traffic and ground movements. The exercises were run with pairs of controllers, set up so that an observing controller could constantly analyze the safety, workload, and stress levels of the working controller.

 


Frequentis now wants to take the operational feasibility of PJ05 to the next level, V3. To do that, controllers from yet another air navigation service provider in Europe will evaluate V3 of the multiple-tower, single-site control concept at DLR’s simulation platform in November 2018.

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