Today, digital towers are transforming the way air traffic is controlled. It’s a technology that’s making airports around the world safer, more flexible and efficient.
But beyond these universal benefits, there are a whole range of different reasons to consider digital tower technology. Maybe you need a cutting-edge control facility for a new or growing airport? Or you’re looking to upgrade a tower to handle more traffic?
Perhaps you want to replace an ageing tower to save on maintenance? Or to move a tower to make it more secure, or free up valuable space?
Maybe you’re looking to create a contingency facility, so your airport can keep running at full capacity, even if your main tower is out of action?
No one type of digital tower can meet all these different needs.
That’s why NATS and Searidge Technologies have created a range of five models to meet the needs of any airport no matter the size or level of complexity.
Portsmouth has a long and proud military history. It’s a near neighbour of some of NATS’ main sites, notably our Swanwick Centre which is still unique in the world in having military and civil ATC working alongside each other. Many of our colleagues are part of the Armed Forces community, from Veterans to Reservists to adult cadet volunteers, mirroring a similar community that can be found throughout Portsmouth. Because of that, NATS has been a member of the Armed Forces Covenant since 2015, which means that we have pledged to support employees who are part of the Forces community.
We were extremely proud to be recognised for this commitment at the ‘Shaping Portsmouth’ conference, where we were presented with the ‘Armed Forces Covenant Award’. Shaping Portsmouth, a not-for-profit organisation that works with businesses in and around Portsmouth, introduced the award to recognise the business that had done the most to meet the spirit of the Armed Forces Covenant and chose NATS as the winner because of our commitment to increasing awareness of our military community.
Some of our recent campaigns during Armed Forces Week and Remembrance, both key fixtures in the NATS calendar, have shared the stories of cadet force adult volunteers (CFAVs) and Reservists, and highlighted the close relationship between NATS and 78 Squadron, the military unit based at Swanwick. Wing Commander Miller, Officer Commanding 78 Sqn, took part in a fascinating episode of our ‘Altitude’ webcast last year during which she explained how this cooperation works, and gave a stimulating account of how they work with civilian controllers to rapidly clear a path in UK airspace for ‘Quick Reaction’ fighter jets that are scrambled to respond to threats.
In addition to raising awareness, we’ve also increased training leave for CFAVs and Reservists which can be used to attend annual training activities and, occasionally, operational deployments – NATS staff were deployed to Iraq as part of Operation Telic, for example. Our Peer Support welfare services have also been expanded to include individuals who have first-hand experience of Armed Forces life, which is invaluable in providing the right support in difficult times.
We recognise the strengths that all our employees bring to the business, no matter what their background, but we do appreciate the tremendous benefits that alignment with the Armed Forces plays in broadening our workforce.
All those from the Forces community bring a wealth of transferable skills and qualities to the civilian workplace, which is all the richer as a result of their experience. We’re proud to be members of the Armed Forces Covenant, and we’re proud to support those who serve.
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It’s no surprise to anyone these days that when a storm hits, travel disruption usually follows. Many people now understand why thunder and lightning can be problematic for air travel, but why did the wind of Storm Eunice last Friday cause such an impact and how do we deal with situations where aircraft are unable to land at their destination airport?
Wind is mainly a problem during landing. Strong winds can cause a multitude of challenges, ranging from larger gaps being needed between landing aircraft, to wind shear which can cause unstable approaches (I’m sure you’ve all seen the fascinating Big Jet TV footage by now!). If an aircraft can’t make a stable approach due to wind like we saw with Storm Eunice, the pilot may decide to ‘go-around’ where they will climb to a safe altitude and, in most cases, attempt another approach and landing.
In airspace that is already busy with other aircraft queuing to land, it’s our job to make sure the pilot can do that safely. When bad weather is forecast, we ‘regulate’ – effectively putting a cap on the amount of traffic in the airspace, to ensure there is more room to safely manoeuvre and to keep the workload manageable for our controllers.
Whilst re-attempting to land is often the safest and the most appropriate thing to do, it does mean that everyone else who may be in the landing queue will have to wait, ultimately increasing the delays and traffic complexity.
When a pilot initiates a go-around, the tower controller tells the approach controller at our Swanwick centre and they co-ordinate as necessary. At this point, the approach controller must decide where exactly in the queue they’ll fit the ‘go-around’ aircraft in, which can mean vectoring other arrivals to make space for the extra aircraft. One go around doesn’t create a massive workload increase, but when you have many in quick succession like we did with Eunice, the workload and complexity increases hugely.
To give you an idea of just how problematic Storm Eunice’s wind was for aircraft trying to land, there were nine go-arounds in a row at one point at Heathrow, and 40 in total between 07:00 and 14:00, when usually we might see one a day. Add in similar problems at other airports and you’re suddenly dealing with a very complex, dynamic and challenging environment.
In some situations of exceptionally strong winds, including crosswinds, a pilot may request a diversion rather than a go-around. The controller will relay this diversion request to their Group Supervisor who calls the airport to request the diversion and the airport must decide then whether they can accommodate an unexpected arrival.
Once the diversion is accepted, the controller is informed, and the aircraft will fly to its new destination, often requiring co-ordination with other controllers who are likely dealing with similar scenarios in their own airspace. It is not uncommon for an airport to refuse a diversion request and in these instances, the controller must inform the pilot and the pilot must select an alternative airport and the process starts all over again.
All of the above is exactly why all of our controllers are highly trained and so good at what they do. Their priority, above everything else, as well as your pilot’s, is to keep you safe. Yes, sometimes that means you may land at Birmingham or Geneva instead of Southampton… but the main thing is that you and that aircraft get back on the ground safely.
The Greater Bay Area (GBA) in Southern China, two Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau and nine municipalities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, is a hub for technology, manufacturing and financial services.
As an area of great significance in the country’s innovation-driven development, the Chinese government has ambitious plans to grow the GBA with large-scale investment in technology and infrastructure, which includes developing the aviation network in the region into a world-leading transportation hub. The expansion of the airports will help cement Greater China’s position as one of the most dynamic aviation markets in the world.
Already an international hub and with a third runway under construction, pre-pandemic Hong Kong International Airport was one of the world’s busiest, transporting over 70 million passengers and almost 5 million tonnes of cargo. It is also one of the more difficult areas of airspace to manage with changeable weather conditions and steep terrain.
Development is also underway to expand Guangzhou and Shenzhen airports and Macau is undergoing improvements. A number of other smaller airports are also set to be added to the network, further connecting the region with itself and with international destinations.
Control tower at Guangzhou Baiyun international airport
Evidently, this expansion will lead to an increase in air traffic. GBA is heavily mentioned in the 14th Five-Year Plan showing the Chinese government is determined to see the region flourish. Guangzhou Baiyuan Airport and Shenzhen are already China’s top two airports in terms of traffic volumes and the construction of a world-class cluster of airports in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao GBA will be complete by 2025. Inter-airport coordination and traffic integration is therefore going to be vitally important, especially with continuous goals to advance safety, efficiency, and reliability.
It’s a challenge we’re all too familiar with in the UK. With London’s five major airports all operating within a small geographic area, and airspace that’s in huge demand. This experience has led us to work together with other air traffic service providers and airport operators around the world. In Asia Pacific, we’ve partnered with Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, India, Australia, the Philippines, Japan, and Brunei Darussalam on understanding ways to improve runway and airspace efficiently as air travel in the region accelerated.
Increasingly, its technology that is allowing airports to unlock the next level of capability and performance. That’s a trend that will only continue as traffic rebounds and then exceeds pre-pandemic levels. Digital control towers, which use cameras to present the visual environment of the airport to the controllers and can be augmented with all kinds of data sources, are a big part of that picture, helping airports to be safer, more flexible and efficient.
But to date, most digital towers have largely been put up to replicate the view of the airfield and relocate the controllers from the traditional tower. That’s an application that suits some smaller airports, but it’s not going to be how the industry unlocks the full operational benefits. One size cannot fit all.
So together with Canada-based Searidge Technologies, we’ve created five ‘models’ of digital towers – a range that can scale to suit every kind of airport from the smallest local airfield to the world’s largest hub, without necessarily replacing an airport’s exisiting physical tower. And because they all operate on the same software platform, all can access the latest tools to drive performance.
At Heathrow, for example, we’ve been running a project to demonstrate how a digital tower platform when combined with artificial intelligence (AI) can recoup lost capacity in reduced visibility. Elsewhere we’ve been developing and testing AI models to monitor radio transmissions from pilots to provide the appropriate pre-departure clearances and confirm accuracy of crew readback. This frees up the controllers from a routine semi-automated task so they can focus on key human decision making. All in all, this improves capacity and efficiency, while enhancing safety.
What digital towers can do for the GBA
Our approach to digital towers has the capability to not simply replicate, but to transform the operation of complex, high intensity airport operations. In total, 70% of visual data that air traffic controllers (ATCOs) currently monitor can be digitised and integrated through deployment of one of our digital tower models. This digital integration reduces the mental load on controllers, enabling the system to provide better support while the human is able to focus on making critical decisions.
Digital towers already have a foothold in the GBA. In April, it was announced that Searidge Technologies had been selected by the Airport Authority Hong Kong to deploy a digital tower and apron software platform to support their airport transformation and large-scale expansion plans.
With a variety of different sized airports in the GBA, an agile, scalable and easily adaptable approach to air traffic control is essential. I firmly believe that digital towers provide this alongside proven efficiency, safety and reliability. The GBA’s cluster of airports can’t settle for anything less as it supports one of the world’s great economic engines.
Portsmouth has a long and proud military history. It’s a near neighbour of some of NATS’ main sites, notably our Swanwick Centre which is still unique in the world in having military and civil ATC working alongside each other. Many of our colleagues are part of the Armed Forces community, from Veterans to Reservists to adult cadet volunteers, mirroring a similar community that can be found throughout Portsmouth. Because of that, NATS has been a member of the Armed Forces Covenant since 2015, which means that we have pledged to support employees who are part of the Forces community.
We were extremely proud to be recognised for this commitment at the ‘Shaping Portsmouth’ conference, where we were presented with the ‘Armed Forces Covenant Award’. Shaping Portsmouth, a not-for-profit organisation that works with businesses in and around Portsmouth, introduced the award to recognise the business that had done the most to meet the spirit of the Armed Forces Covenant and chose NATS as the winner because of our commitment to increasing awareness of our military community.
Some of our recent campaigns during Armed Forces Week and Remembrance, both key fixtures in the NATS calendar, have shared the stories of cadet force adult volunteers (CFAVs) and Reservists, and highlighted the close relationship between NATS and 78 Squadron, the military unit based at Swanwick. Wing Commander Miller, Officer Commanding 78 Sqn, took part in a fascinating episode of our ‘Altitude’ webcast last year during which she explained how this cooperation works, and gave a stimulating account of how they work with civilian controllers to rapidly clear a path in UK airspace for ‘Quick Reaction’ fighter jets that are scrambled to respond to threats.
In addition to raising awareness, we’ve also increased training leave for CFAVs and Reservists which can be used to attend annual training activities and, occasionally, operational deployments – NATS staff were deployed to Iraq as part of Operation Telic, for example. Our Peer Support welfare services have also been expanded to include individuals who have first-hand experience of Armed Forces life, which is invaluable in providing the right support in difficult times.
We recognise the strengths that all our employees bring to the business, no matter what their background, but we do appreciate the tremendous benefits that alignment with the Armed Forces plays in broadening our workforce.
All those from the Forces community bring a wealth of transferable skills and qualities to the civilian workplace, which is all the richer as a result of their experience. We’re proud to be members of the Armed Forces Covenant, and we’re proud to support those who serve.
