Digital control tower coming for Invercargill Airport, air traffic controllers to be based elsewhere

Kavinda Herath/Stuff

Invercargill Airport general manager Nigel Finnerty with the control tower in the background.

Five air traffic control positions will be relocated from Invercargill Airport once a new digital control tower is put in place, with air traffic control being managed from a remote location.

The digital tower, which sends high definition video to a remote operations centre, is expected to be operational by 2020.

Airways chief executive Graeme Sumner said the five air traffic controllers employed at Invercargill Airport will be given the option to relocate to a central hub once the location of the hub is determined, and the company will be working closely with the controllers affected by this during the next couple of years.

The technology is already in use at airports around Europe, but Invercargill will be the first airport in New Zealand to feature an entirely digital tower.

“Digital tower systems give controllers additional tools to do their jobs, but it doesn’t make decisions for them. We still see people very much at the heart of managing aircraft in and out of airfields safely for many years to come,” he said.

he new control tower will feature a battery of sensors including surveillance, flight data and augmented reality overlays which are intended to provide controllers with a more detailed view than possible with the human eye, including infrared to provide controllers with improved visibility in low light conditions.

The tower will be operated from a separate building on the airfield initially, before air traffic controllers are moved to a central hub that will provide air traffic control services to a number of regional locations.

Airways, which provides air navigations services throughout New Zealand, issued a request seeking a supplier of digital tower technology for Invercargill on Monday.

A digital tower will also be constructed at Auckland International Airport, as a backup to the existing tower from 2020.

Invercargill Airport general manager Nigel Finnerty said Invercargill was selected as it had the right mix of air traffic to test the system.
“It doesn’t have the complexity of an international airport, but it is still pretty busy so any new system will be put through its paces. This is new technology and will be a new way of managing airspace around airports, so it is important we get it right,” he said.
The process of introducing the digital tower into the Invercargill operation will take some time, as the technology needed to be introduced and then approved by the Civil Aviation Authority, which could take up to two years, Finnerty said.
“After that, decisions will be made on how and where Invercargill air traffic will be managed from,” he said.
Passengers flying out of or into Invercargill won’t notice any difference during the implementation of the system, Finnerty said.
“They will see a new tower on the edge of the apron, but nothing else. Initially the new digital tower will work in tandem with the current tower until it is approved for use by CAA. The Air Traffic Controllers will then transition to managing the airspace from the new facility,” he said.
As the knowledge of the new technology grows, passengers should see the airport become more efficient with less flight disruption, Finnerty said.
“This technology, whilst still relatively new, is proving itself to be the way of the future. We are proud to be leading its introduction into New Zealand,” Finnerty said.

source : digital control tower