FREQUENTIS DFS AEROSENSE was awarded the contract to supply this system in an international tender.
In an initial project phase, the potential and suitability of the virtual tower for larger airports such as Munich will be determined and validated from both an operational and technical perspective.
Subsequently, specific use cases can be defined, for example, setting up a virtual tower as an interim system during the renovation of the control tower at Munich Airport required in the coming years. The technical and the operational validations will be carried out in 2025.
The working environment of the virtual tower will be housed at the DFS branch in Munich. The 360-degree panorama cameras and the pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras will be mounted on the existing control tower as part of the project. The 4K cameras will transmit the information to high-resolution screens in the DFS branch, serving as the best possible substitute for the view from the tower itself.
Commenting on the project, DFS CEO Arndt Schoenemann said: "DFS has been operating remote tower systems successfully for many years. Air traffic at Saarbrücken and Erfurt Weimar airports has been controlled since 2018 and 2022 respectively from the DFS Remote Tower Control Center in Leipzig hundreds of kilometres away. As Munich Airport is an important international hub, the virtual tower there will enable us to explore its potential and offer an opportunity to take a further step towards more digitalisation in the air traffic control world."
Andreas Pötzsch, Managing Director of DFS Aviation Services, added: "When making such a fundamental change, it is important that all stakeholders, especially air traffic controllers, are engaged in the project at an early stage to ensure full acceptance. The key to the success of this project is the combination of Frequentis' technical expertise and the operational experience of DFS Aviation Services. Together, we will put in place an optimal virtual solution at Munich Airport for the first validation phase."
Frequentis CEO Norbert Haslacher said: "Setting up the digital tower system and the validation of the solution for larger hub airports are a major milestone for the digitalisation of air traffic control. I hope it will open up a wide range of potential applications and serve as an international flagship project. DFS Aviation Services and Frequentis have cultivated a mutually beneficial and successful partnership for many years. The foundation provided by this strong alliance will drive the future development of digital tower solutions around the world."
