DFS Aviation Services has opened its Remote Tower Control Center at Braunschweig-Wolfsburg Airport in the north of Germany.
The official opening of the Remote Tower Control Center (RTC Center) was held at the end of November.
The air traffic control services for Braunschweig-Wolfsburg Airport in Lower Saxony is already partially taken over by the Remote Tower Center during the current implementation phase.
Air traffic controllers use high-resolution video and infrared cameras to monitor traffic in the air and on the ground from the remote tower control center, instead of from a tower at the local airfield.
An elaborate camera system on the Braunschweig control tower permanently provides the air traffic controllers with a 360-degree image of the airport. DFS Aviation Services (DAS), in cooperation with Frequentis DFS Aerosense GmbH and ESPA GmbH, is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the RTC Center, which has capacities for a total of six airports.
In addition, DAS is working with the Braunschweig-based Institute for Flight Guidance of the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V., DLR) to advance the further development of the RTC project to multiple-remote applications.
Implementing the project represents an important step in Lower Saxony’s digital strategy ‘Masterplan Digitalisation’.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Lower Saxony's Minister of Transport, Olaf Lies said: “The remote monitoring of airports is clearly the future and we in Lower Saxony are at the forefront here at Braunschweig-Wolfsburg Airport with the RTC Center.
“The current shortage of skilled workers also poses challenges for air traffic control, especially at small airports. Bundling locations can make things easier here and I am pleased that digitalisation is once again showing its practical benefits. This is well-invested money and I would like to thank everyone involved.”
Dr. Thorsten Kornblum, mayor of the city of Braunschweig, said: “Research airport Braunschweig is an important location for aviation and mobility research in Germany. The technology currently used for remote monitoring of various airports was co-developed and implemented at the German Aerospace Center.
“With the establishment of the RTC Center Niedersachsen in Braunschweig, both Braunschweig-Wolfsburg Airport and the associated business and science cluster will be further developed in terms of quality and functionality and strengthened in the long term”
CEO of DFS, Arndt Schoenemann said: “With the Remote Tower Control Centre in Braunschweig, our subsidiary DFS Aviation Services is opening the second tower centre of the DFS Group for airports in Germany, thus significantly contributing to modern, digitised air traffic control in Europe and continuing our pioneering role.”
"The project was very ambitious and we are proud of the opening of our RTC Centre in Lower Saxony. We look forward to the further development of our Centre in cooperation with our partners", said Andreas Pötzsch, managing director of DAS.
Deutsche Flugsicherung has been operating an RTC center at the international commercial airport in Leipzig for the airports of Saarbrücken and Erfurt since 2019.