EUROPE
LATAM
MIDDLE EAST
UNITED STATES
Control towers and air traffic
3
Visual control room (VCR)
Rest area
Toilets
Offices
Equipment room 2
Air conditioning
Electricity panels
Shaft
Technical room
4
5
1
Antenna array
2
Retractable ladder
(access to antenna array)
3
Catwalk
4
Staircase
5
Lift and goods lift
6
Ducts or risers:
Air navigation, Electricity
Water and Fire fighting
Meteorology
Controlling the airport's
airspace
They hold responsibility for
controlling actions within the
airport's airspace. They use direct
observation from the tower, though
they usually use the help provided
by tools like surface or approach
radar.
Approach control
Local traffic control
Ground control
They are in charge of controlling
the movements of aircraft on the
ground at the airport and issue
take-off and landing authorisations,
in addition to regulating the flow
of aircraft.
They are in charge of aircraft on
the ground at the airport. They hold
responsibility for supervising and
issuing safe movement instructions
to aircraft and vehicles.
The world's
tallest air
traffic control
tower
Flight authorisation control
They issue flight plan authorisations
to aircraft before departure.
They are in charge of granting
authorisations and issuing
information of interest to aircraft
which are getting ready to land,
so they can do so safely and
consistently.
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KUALA LUMPUR
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (KLIA2)
Control
tower cab
2
A
CANAD
KUL
are the only
personnel authorised to use visual
information to perform their duties
Controllers at the airport tower
Sepang
(Malaysia)
Management and administration
Equipment room 1
Air traffic control of area
Access control
Preliminary checks
Take-off
Departure
On route
Descent
Approach
Landing and taxiing
On the ground
The flight plan is submitted, weather
information is obtained. The control
tower authorises the aircraft to
depart, informs it about the flight
path and indicates which taxiways
should be used to reach the end of
the runway.
The area's conditions and inbound
and outbound traffic are analysed
from the control tower to find the
right moment to authorise the
aircraft to enter the runway for its
departure. The air traffic controller
in the tower grants the aircraft
permission to take off.
Once the aircraft has taken off, it
continues to be controlled by the
airport of origin's control tower until
it is around 5 miles away (9 km),
at which point it is transferred to a
radar control facility associated to
the area. The aircraft climbs to its
cruising altitude.
Supervision of the flight is
transferred to an airway area control
centre which coordinates all the
aircraft passing through its airspace.
Aircraft fly along airways which
are perfectly defined by a series
of points in the airspace whose
position the aircraft is aware of
and to which it can fly by following
onboard navigation systems.
When an aircraft is around 50 miles
(90 km) from its destination airport,
its tracking is transferred to the
airport's control centre, which may
cover one or several airports. In
London, the consolidated centre for
all its airports reaches a radius of
100 miles (180 km).
The aircraft is guided to fly towards
the runway assigned to it for landing
by the approach controller at the
area's associated radar centre.
When the aircraft is around 5 miles
(9 km) from the airport, the flight is
handed over to the local air traffic
controller located at the destination
airport's control tower.
The aircraft's final approach and
landing is supervised from the
control tower, coordinating the
aeroplane with the other aircraft
in the area (arrivals, departures
and taxiing). Once it has landed,
its supervision is handed over to
the ground controller, who guides
the pilot along the taxiways until it
reaches the designated gate.
Once the aircraft has been parked,
the control tower is informed, final
checks are conducted and the
pilot authorises the passengers to
disembark. End of flight.
Source: © AERTEC Solutions
Base
What role do control towers play?
The air traffic control tower is a key element for the airport to function
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Air traffic
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