This autumn the large-scale renovation of Schiphol control tower will start. Almost 500,000 take-offs and landings per year are currently being guided from the tower. 17 years ago (2001), the airport only counted half of that amount: 250,000 movements per year. In order to improve the working environment of air traffic controllers and therefore improve safety in general, the renewal of the control tower will start next September. The familiar image of the 101 meter high tower remains as it is, but inside a large-scale renovation will take place.
Michiel van Dorst, LVNL CEO: “Optimum working conditions and technical support in the air traffic control tower at Schiphol are important for safe and efficient handling by air traffic controllers. After the renovation, there is more room and by going to work with Electronic Flight Strips that contributes to our most important priority: safety. With the traffic tower of the future, we are ready for future developments at Schiphol.”
Renovation workplaces air traffic control
The number of work positions is almost doubling and new consoles are being introduced. At the moment the traffic control is still working in one big ring. That will be two rings in the new situation. The outer ring gets eleven working positions and these positions come closer to the glass. In the middle of the ring there will be an increase for another four working positions. After the renovation, 15 people can work on the tower at the same time.
Improvements tower
In addition to the expansion of the workspace, the ‘paper strips’, which contain all information about the aircraft that the traffic controllers are in charge of, are being replaced by Electronic Flight Strips (EFS). As a result, air traffic controllers no longer have to physically pass the strips to each other and more rest is created on the work floor. By linking the EFS system to various other systems in the future, safety and predictability will increase even further. Cameras are also being placed because the new A pier limits the view of the gates. Thanks to the camera images, the tower traffic control will soon have a good view of the aircraft being push-backed and the taxiing traffic on the south side of the new pier.
Operation continues
Air traffic will not be affected by the renovation: at night air traffic controllers will work from the stand-by tower. The renovation and improvement of the tower is expected to be completed by May 2019.