In a new study commissioned by ACR Aviation Capacity Resources we conclude that savings from remote towers are possible, but they will not materialize, and they will not be as large unless remote towers are provided on a competitive market, that is by allowing airports to choose air navigation service providers through competitive tendering processes.
In short, the introduction of competition should be prioritized over or on par with the introduction of remote air traffic control for five reasons:
- Competition is needed to guarantee that potential cost savings from remote towers benefit the airports
- Competition can generate additional cost savings that remote towers cannot
- Remote towers are unlikely to achieve savings of the same magnitude as competition
- The business case for remote towers seems to be exaggerated
- The risk and associated costs of cyber and physical attacks on centralized remote towers is underestimated
For further information, please contact Sofia Nyström