Air traffic at Åre Östersund Airport is now remotely controlled from Arlanda
Published: 02 December 2021 12:03
On 1 December, air traffic control at Åre Östersund Airport was connected to LFV's remote air traffic control centre at Arlanda, RTC Stockholm. Åre Östersund Airport then became the second Swedavia airport with this concept for air navigation services.
- With remote air traffic control, we increase the availability of air traffic in Sweden and reduce the risk of disruptions in our delivery of air navigation services to Swedavia. We are also not alone in Sweden in developing and commissioning remote air traffic control. It is an ongoing global development with the purpose of streamlining and developing air navigation services, says LFV's Director General Ann Persson Grivas.
In 2016, LFV and Swedavia signed a letter of intent to investigate the conditions for remote air traffic control. In November 2017, the agreement to establish remote air traffic control at the four airports Kiruna Airport, Umeå Airport, Åre Östersund Airport, and Malmö Airport was signed.
RTC Stockholm is located in direct proximity to LFV's control centre ATCC Stockholm Arlanda, from where air traffic in large parts of Sweden is controlled.
On 1 June, RTC Stockholm was inaugurated and commissioned. At the same time, air traffic control at Kiruna Airport was transferred from the airport to the new control centre.
When remote air traffic control has been commissioned at Kiruna Airport and Åre Östersund Airport, two airports remain in LFV's and Swedavia's joint programme, Umeå Airport och Malmö Airport. According to the timetable, it will be operational for all airports by the end of 2022.
The project has been partly financed by the EU.
Facts about remote air traffic control
LFV was the first in the world to use remote air traffic control. In 2015, RTS was commissioned at Örnsköldsvik Airport from the control centre RTC Sundsvall. Sundsvall Timrå Airport, Linköping City Airport, and Scandinavian Mountains Airport in Sälen followed. Air traffic at these four airports is now remotely controlled from RTC Sundsvall by the company SDATS, Saab Digital Air Traffic Solutions. The company was formed in 2016 by LFV and Saab to develop, market, sell, and operate remote air traffic control.