Use cases
Not every airport needs a virtual tower. The cases where it makes an immediate difference are those where traffic and permanent local staffing do not match — which is most regional aerodromes, most of the time.
Where it pays off
The cases below follow the application scenarios described in the DLR Virtual Tower research, applied to the commercial model VisionATS offers.
During low traffic periods one operator can oversee more than one aerodrome. The research describes two airports that each operate twelve hours with two AFISOs: with coordinated scheduling and workload aware traffic management, the same staff can extend coverage towards eighteen or twenty-four hours, with full staffing retained for the peaks.
An ageing tower due for renewal, or a service upgrade that would otherwise mean extending the building, can instead be met by adding sensors and a virtual working position. The investment that would have gone into construction or extension stays available for other airport priorities.
A PPR outside the published hours normally means calling someone in, even for a single movement. Remotely, the service can be activated for the request and stood down afterwards — night IFR, a medical flight, a diverted aircraft — without paying for idle presence.
Some movements need a higher service level than the aerodrome normally provides. A qualified AFIS officer can connect for the period concerned, provide the information service, and hand back to the standard level afterwards — without the aerodrome maintaining that capability permanently.
The same environment can be configured to replicate different aerodromes and scenarios. Training does not have to occupy an operational working position, and a scenario can be repeated as often as the exercise requires.
Tower outages, renovation work, power failures or local emergencies interrupt service in a fixed installation. A virtual working position can take over from another location, which removes the need to keep a second facility available purely as a fallback.
When a situation needs more hands or a specific qualification, additional operators can join from wherever they are. Scaling up does not depend on who can physically reach the tower in time.
The picture is useful beyond the AFIS officer. Fire services, search and rescue teams and ground operations can be given controlled access to the same high resolution view with augmented labels, which shortens coordination during both routine work and incidents.
Sensor integration allows objects to be detected and followed automatically — drones and other unexpected traffic among them. Early warning and continuous visual tracking give the operator time to react rather than to search.
A worked example
The pattern below is the staffing scenario described in the DLR research. It is illustrative, not a promise: real coverage depends on traffic, workload assessment, the approved operating concept and the responsible authority.
Each aerodrome staffs two AFISOs for its own published hours. Outside those hours no service is available, and neither airport can justify more.
Each airport keeps its own sensor installation. The operator switches between them, or holds both, inside the same virtual working position.
During quiet periods one or two operators oversee both aerodromes. During the peaks each airport is staffed individually, as before.
The same personnel budget covers substantially longer service windows, which is what makes night IFR, medical flights and late arrivals possible.
Most conversations start with one specific problem — hours, staffing, a renovation, a contingency plan.