On the 12 and 13 of June, 150 participants were privy to the latest information on SESAR’s Remote Tower Services Solution at an event, organised by the SESAR Joint Undertaking and its members, kindly hosted by Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) at Dublin Airport.

The aim of the event was to present the SESAR Remote Tower Services solution, a unique concept enabling Air Traffic Control Services (ATS) and Aerodrome Flight Information Services (AFIS) to be provided at aerodromes, where such services are either currently unavailable, or where it is difficult or costly to implement and staff a conventionally-manned facility.

Interactive participation from the audienceThe event was opened by Kevin Toland, Chief Executive Oficcer, Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) who highlighted the potential of this SESAR Solution to bring benefit to Irish Aviation “trials supported by the SESAR Programme have already taken place […] and it is DAA’s aspiration to follow this lead as we believe that there are a number of applications for this technology,” says  Toland. “We believe that the Remote Tower Services solution offers not just a short-term solution to issues at airports with low volumes of traffic, but have significant potential in the medium and longer term to replace the traditional, and often “landmark statement” control tower building.”

This sentiment was reiterated by Maurizio Castelletti, Head of Unit of the Single European Sky, who stressed “SESAR fast tracks ATM modernisation […] and SESAR Remote Tower Services in particular, can serve as model for development, having taken a comparatively short time to move from the idea phase to become ready for industrialisation and ready as a sound baseline for the necessary local implementation activities to take over.”

Staff from the SESAR Joint Undertaking presented the Remote Tower concept, while several industry representatives, including DFS, LFV, Frequentis and SAAB provided an overview of the work already undertaken within the SESAR Research and Innovation Programme to develop and validate the concept.

Over the course of the two-day event, participants had the opportunity to hear from various key stakeholders including, air navigation service providers, national and regional authorities, manufacturing industry and staff associations on the business views of introducing Remote Tower Services. Representatives from LFV and DFS gave their own experiences of how they have implemented Remote Tower Services in their own countries, showcasing the clear benefits of using this innovative solution. 

IFACTA answering questionsThe meeting also detailed the regulatory and standardisation activities underway to support the implementation of these services and participants had the chance to hear from Jussi Myllarniemi, EASA as well as Ingrid Cherfils, from the Swedish Ministry of Transport, who highlighted the social and economic benefits that Remote Tower Services can bring to more remote Regions.

Florian Guillermet, Executive Director of SESAR JU, closed the event by saying that "this workshop underpins what SESAR is all about – working together, sharing information on R&D results and experiences. By acting this way, our partnership is able to deliver real results that bring concrete benefits to end users. With this collaborative spirit in mind, we will be organising further workshops on similar topics in the future.”

The presentations from the event can be downloaded hereafter:

DAY 1

Agenda

Introduction

Remote Tower Operations

Regulatory and Standardisation activities

Airspace users' view

SESAR solutions portal

DAY 2

The Business Perspective - Part 1

The Business Perspective - Part 2

Final Session

All photos can be downloaded here.

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