From 13th to 21st November DLR and its SESAR2020 partners Frequentis AG, HungaroControl and Selex ES GmbH conducted a validation campaign on behalf of the SESAR2020 project PJ05 “Remote Tower for Multiple airports” in Braunschweig. For the first time a single remote tower controller controlled three airports simultaneously. In a human-in-the-loop real time simulation at the DLR Air Traffic Validation Center seven Hungarian civil and military controllers managed up to 30 movements per hour at three Hungarian airports Budapest, Papa and Debrecen.
The controllers were provided with a newly developed flight strip planning system, a three-fold radar and outside view and advanced weather information. DLR researchers assessed the controllers’ eye point of regard, their perceived situation awareness, workload and acceptance as well as efficiency and safety in handling the various traffic situations to judge about the overall operational feasibility of the concept and the design of the controller working position.
First results show in general the operational feasibility of the concept while also providing the research partners with recommendations for concept and design improvements. A final analysis of the results will follow at a later stage. In 2018 it is planned to validate this concept in a real-life passive shadow mode trial at a HungaroControl facility at Budapest Airport.
On 22nd of November the validation campaign was succeeded by a Public Open Day event. More than 30 international remote tower experts with operational and technical background used the opportunity to visit the DLR to learn more about the multiple design concept, the set-up, the validation objectives and first results.
