Sharing expertise and insights on developments in the area of remote and digital tower operations, European and Chinese experts gathered in Guiyang, China, for a fruitful three-day workshop attended by over 270 participants (onsite as well as online). This workshop was organised under the EU-China Aviation Partnership Project (APP), with support from the Second Research Institute (SRI) of CAAC and Guizhou Civil Aviation Industry Group. An earlier activity on this subject was held in 2019, when the EU-China APP organised an experience exchange visit of a CAAC led delegation to Europe, dedicated to the regulatory framework for remote tower operations and application of this technology. Since then, a multitude of remote tower programmes had been initiated and operational experience grown considerably.
The workshop started with a general overview of remote tower operations in China, by CAAC’s Air Traffic Regulation Office. Subsequently, DFS Aviation Services introduced remote tower control in Germany and the SRI of CAAC presented research and practices in remote tower related technologies in China. In the afternoon of the first day, participants received a presentation from Guiyang Airport on the subject, followed by a site visit to Guiyang Airport’s tower site. On the second day, EASA gave a presentation on regulation and experiences of remote towers in the EU, as well as on EU regulation on change management. DFS Aviation Services presented more in-depth on the process of remote and digital towers, from idea to operation. After this, remote tower application experience in small and medium sized airports was presented by Xinjiang Airport, and Frequentis presented on opportunities and integration of remote tower solutions. On the third day of the workshop, DFS Aviation Services complemented the discussion with a presentation on future prospects of remote and digital tower applications. Finally, regulatory aspects and experience on a national authority level in Europe were shared by the Civil Aviation Authority of Norway.
The activity was attended by representatives of authorities, airports and relevant aviation industry partners, who all welcomed the opportunity to engage in lively discussions throughout the workshop. It was concluded that as the technology and visions on extended and new applications will continue to develop, there is a lot of potential for European and Chinese partners to continue cooperation and exchange in the future.
