Saab Sees A Huge Potential For Its Remote ATCs In India

As the country invests substantially in upgrading its infrastructure in all domains – with the focus on smaller, regional airports – Saab’s remote tower concept is being widely discussed by both the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Saab believes its technology will provide the perfect solution that can help AAI operationalise airports in far-flung areas. JOHAN LANDIN, Vice President, Marketing & Sales, Saab Digital Air Traffic Solutions and VARUN VIJAY SINGH, Marketing Director, Air Defence and ATM from India Office talked to Cruising HeigHts. Excerpts from the conversation:

How many airports are connected to your solution?

Saab and the Swedish Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP) LFV, began development of the Remote Tower concept in 2006. Since then, they have gained an unparalleled level of experience in delivering market-leading remote tower technology and operational projects. The Saab Remote Tower solution has been in regular daily use at Örnsköldsvik airport since April 21, 2015 -- the first such system in the world.

To date, Saab has successfully supplied Remote Tower solutions to the following customers:

LFV, Sweden (Örnsköldsvik, Sundsvall, Linköping Airports controlled from RTC Sundsvall)

Airservices, Australia (Alice Springs Airport controlled from Adelaide)

Avinor, Norway (Röst and Väröya Airport controlled from Bodö)

LVNL, The Netherlands, Schiphol Airport (Remote Runway operation), Groningen Airport.

Leesburg Executive Airport, VA, USA (Local operation augmenting an airport without an existing air traffic control tower)

IAA, Ireland (Cork and Shannon Airports controlled from Dublin)

Several customers have Saab Remote Tower systems on order and are preparing to launch operations. These include:

Swedavia, Sweden (Umeå, Kiruna, Malmö and Östersund to be controlled from Stockholm Arlanda Airport)

Scandinavian Mountains Airport Sälen, Sweden (to be controlled from the RTC in Sundsvall)

NATS, UK (London City Airport to be controlled from Swanwick)

Cranfield University Airport, UK (To be controlled locally)

The Saab solution has also been used in the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) and development programme and has been the foundation for numerous tests and validations programmes in Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands and Norway with excellent results.

Which airports in Sweden are you already serving?