French air navigation service provider DSNA (Direction des Services de la Navigation Aérienne) has selected a state-of-the-art remote digital tower (RDT) solution from Frequentis.
The solution, to be located in a remote tower centre (RTC) in Toulouse, will initially manage air traffic for Tours Val De Loire Airport, over 500km away. Based on the smartVISION product from Frequentis, already operational in six countries, the RDT will enable the airport to preserve passenger traffic and ultimately to increase it three-fold.
Once installed, the solution will include on-site video technology at the airport, central equipment in the RTC in Toulouse-Blagnac Airport, with several working positions, and a test system for training.
“We are pleased to be working with DSNA on its airport strategy, supporting passenger growth in the region. The potential for more regional airports to be housed in the same centre in future increases the operational efficiency of the solution and the region’s air traffic capacity,” said Hannu Juurakko, Frequentis vice president ATM Civil and chairman of the ATM Executive Board.
Once a French Air Force base, Tours Val De Loire Airport is today an international airport capable of handling 150,000 passengers per year. With the departure of military ATC from the airport in 2021, the French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC) chose to concentrate on preserving commercial lines of air traffic. The implementation of RDT technology (cameras and sensors) at the airport, feeding information back to high-definition screens in the RTC in Toulouse-Blagnac, will give the airport the potential to develop a 500,000-passenger capacity by 2035.
DSNA has a long cooperation with Frequentis, having worked on various projects over almost three decades, not least New Voice Communication System (NVCS) – the countrywide voice communication systems for the Grandes Approaches.
