Awarded for remote air traffic control

Saab and the LFV Group, operating 16 airports and responsible for air navigation services in Sweden, have received an award for their joint efforts in enabling remote air traffic control.

Saab, with LFV Air Navigation Services as its operative partner, has developed a solution that enables management of air traffic control at small and mid-sized airports from a common air traffic control centre.

Cameras and sensors are installed at the airports and everything they register is linked in real-time to a common air traffic control centre and projected in a 360-degree view. The system was successfully tested at Ängelholm Airport in 2009 and has now received an award for its contribution to safer, more efficient and environmentally friendly air traffic.

The award is from the Jane’s Information Group and was handed over in Amsterdam during an air traffic control convention.

“It feels great to get this kind of recognition for our solution,” says Per Ahl, sales manager for Saab’s air traffic management systems. “We’ve worked hard to build a safe system that is easy for air traffic controllers to use, and along with the tests we’ve already conducted, we see the award as further confirmation that we’ve been successful.”

Safe and economic, remote air traffic control

The reasons for controlling air traffic at several airports from a common control centre relate both to economy and safety. At small and mid-sized airports, traffic is unevenly distributed over the day, with occasional peaks when the workload is higher. Instead of keeping several air control towers open, resources can be co-located.

In regard to safety, there are several advantages:

* Cameras can register changes to images, which enables hazards such as forgotten tools on runways to be more easily detected.
* A camera with automatic tracking that can zoom in up to 36 times replaces binoculars in a conventional tower.
* A video tracking feature automatically detects incoming aircraft and marks them, making it easier for air traffic controllers to follow their progress, even when visibility is poor.
* With cameras, everything that occurs in air spaces and at airports can be recorded for later viewing in the event of an incident.
* Runway contours, structures and other objects at airports can be marked on screens so that they can be seen even when there is limited visibility.
* The camera zoom feature, information from radars as well as information about weather and wind are integrated into a 360-degree view – corresponding to a modern jet pilot’s head-up display – that is monitored by air traffic controllers so that they don’t have to shift their attention and focus.