Weekly Review #197 - Estonia's first remote tower goes live

In news from northeastern Europe, the first remote tower is now live in Estonia. An aeronautical equipment certificate was issued for the Tartu remote tower system by the Estonian Transport Administration (ETA). Eve Härm, head of the Air Traffic Services and Airports Unit of the Transport Administration, said that the process was a new and exciting challenge as such a certification procedure has not been carried out in Estonia before. 

Next up, we have news about a cooperation between Europe and India in response to increasing air traffic between the two airspaces. EUROCONTROL and the Airports Authority of India have signed a declaration of intent, a first step in establishing a framework to enhance ATM capabilities. This cooperation aims to improve the performance and long-range predictability of flights, and will contribute to optimum capacity, flexible flights and interoperable systems and data.

From SESAR JU and partners comes news of 32 solutions supporting more efficient, resilient, accessible, and greener airport airside operations. Partners gathered in Brétigny, France to showcase the solutions that aim to deliver operational and technical improvements, while factoring in environmental considerations and preserving safety.

And last but not least, we have a new episode of our podcast Radar Contact. In 'Air Traffic Control Simulation Game' we sit down with Kristian Lavin from TowerHouse to discuss serious gaming in the context of ATC.

ANSP news

• CAAS and DFS Aviation Services sign MoU Renewal for ATM Collaboration - The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and DFS Aviation Services, the commercial subsidiary of the German air navigation service provider DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to renew their commitment to collaborate on ATM-related activities.
• First remote tower is now live in Estonia - Tartu has become the first airfield in Estonia to have its Aerodrome Flight Information Service (AFIS) provided with the remote tower system in Tallinn.

Airports news

• EUROCONTROL and Airports Authority of India sign Declaration of Intent - EUROCONTROL and the Airports Authority of India have signed a declaration of intent, a first step in establishing a framework of cooperation to enhance ATM for the benefit of aviation in Europe and India.

Market news

• MATAR Adopted New Cloud Solution for Enhanced Airport Operations - Partnering with Aeroficial Intelligence, the new software is being utilized in both Hamad International Airport and Doha International Airport
• FREQUENTIS modernises aeronautical communication for the Republic of Korea - The Korean Airport Cooperation (KAC) undertakes a major modernisation of its communication capabilities. The new system provides KAC with the best performance and reliability on the market. Korean company IB Leaders was responsible for parts of the local delivery.

Context information

• The Federal Government of Nigeria to support policies, programmes towards implementation of SAATM - The Federal Government of Nigeria have affirmed its commitment to support any policies and programmes that would support and project the full implementation of Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) in Nigeria.

Reports and data

• ENAIRE managed over 158,000 flights in March, 17% more than in 2022 - ENAIRE, Spain's air navigation manager, managed over 158,000 flights (158,412) in March, 17.0% more than in the same month in 2022. Of those, 84,294 were international (+15.3%), 35,957 were domestic (+14.8%), and 38,161 were overflights (which do not land at or depart from a Spanish airport) (+23.2%).
• NAV CANADA reports March traffic figures - In March 2023 weighted charging units were higher on average by 21.5 percent compared to the same month in 2022. As compared to the same month in fiscal 2019, March 2023 weighted charging units were lower on average by 7.9 percent.

Research and innovation

• Green and resilient airport solutions ready for take-off - A total of 32 solutions supporting more efficient, resilient, accessible, and greener airport airside operations are now ready for take-off, thanks to the work of the SESAR Airside, Airport and Runway Throughput project. Partners gathered on 28-29 March in Brétigny, France to showcase the work of the project and the range of solutions available to improve the efficiency of traffic throughput at airports across Europe.
• Total Airport Management Closure Event - SESAR JU - The SESAR Industrial Research Project, Total Airport Management (TAM), is organising a closure event to present the results of its work. TAM has developed a number of different SESAR solutions with a focus on connectivity between airports and the ATM network as well as more holistic and local operations management with a specific focus on airside/landside integration, operations during Meteorologically degraded situations, and environmental performance monitoring.
• SESAR Innovation: On trajectory to greater flight efficiency - Airspace management relies on modern systems on the ground and in the cockpit, yet neither currently connect with each other. In an age where data sharing is routine, two SESAR modernisation projects, ADSCENSIO and 4DSkyways, have developed ways to downlink flight information from the cockpit to air traffic control, and uplink data from the ground to the aircraft to fly more efficiently.

UAV and UTM

• UK CAA invites RPAS operators to join sandbox trial to test new airspace concept CAP2533 - Unmanned airspace - The UK Civil Aviation Authority has published new airspace policy for integrating beyond visual line of sight remotely piloted aerial systems into airspace, CAP 2533. The roadmap includes consideration of the way that unmanned aircraft systems operating BVLOS will be integrated within the airspace system.