Remote and virtual tower
Remote and virtual tower (RVT) is a modern concept where the air traffic service (ATS) at an airport is performed somewhere other than in the local control tower. Although it was initially developed for airports with low traffic levels, in 2021 it was implemented at a major international airport, London City Airport (84,260 aircraft movements in 2019). The first remote tower implementation providing aerodrome ATS was approved and introduced into operations in Sweden in April 2015, with further implementations in other EASA Member States well underway. In 2019, Scandinavian Mountains Airport in Dalarna, Sweden has been the world's first airport built without a traditional tower, to be controlled remotely. The concept is also considered as contingency measures for major airports or for apron control only. As of 12 June 2023, Brasov Airport in Romania has implemented this change. Concept Instead of being located in an airport tower, the air traffic control officer (ATCO) or aerodrome flight information services officer (AFISO) work at a remote tower centre (RTC) from where they provide the ATS. The data comes from airport cameras and sensors rather than from an out-of-window view, which is reconstructed as a high-resolution video panorama on a large screen or