Last week NATS took over the air traffic control service at Gatwick Airport after an absence of six years and our first priority is to get more controllers into the operation.

Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd provides a vital service for local communities in Scotland. Having a strong, considered and sustainable plan that ensures its airports stay open and viable is at the heart of HIAL’s new ATM strategy, which is why, among other changes to controlled airspace and radar technology, it includes the use of digital control towers.

Digital towers are one of the hottest topics around the industry at the moment, so last week we asked our LinkedIn followers to fire their burning questions at us for us to answer. So here they are.

It’s usually the first question that leaves people’s lips whenever we show them the new digital tower facility at Swanwick – is it really safe?

The introduction of remote digital control towers is a hugely exciting technological development for our industry. However, digital towers are not about removing the controller from the mix.