Virtual tower

Remote and virtual tower (RVT) is a new concept where the air traffic service (ATS) at an airport is performed somewhere else than in the local control tower.

Currently under construction in Sweden, the new Scandinavian Mountains Airport will be the world's first airport built without a control tower, using solely remote and virtual control.

The air traffic control officer (ATCO) or aerodrome flight information services officer (AFISO) will be re-located to a remote tower centre (RTC) from where they will provide the ATS.

The RVT concept is aiming at providing:

The full range of air traffic services defined in ICAO Documents 4444, 9426 and EUROCONTROL’s Manual for AFIS will still be provided remotely by an ATCO or AFISO. The airspace users should be provided with the appropriate level of services as if the ATS were provided locally at the airport.

The SESAR Joint Undertaking projects are looking at RVT concepts, based on either one person controlling one airport, or one person controlling multiple airports.

The basic concept, formerly known as virtual towers, was introduced by Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR) in 2002 and describes a remote ATC control room with video-sensor based surveillance instead of 'out-of-the-window' view from a real tower. The initial trials of remote ATS, for low and medium-density airports, have been based on optical sensors (cameras), providing the ATCOs at the RTC with a high-quality real-time image of the runway, the airport ramp (APRON) and the very nearby airspace. These real-time images are displayed at large monitors providing up to 360-degree view.

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Wikipedia