EYES ON PLANES FROM 129 KM AWAY
An airport in the U.K. is moving its air traffic controllers 120 kilometres away from the tarmac — but bosses insist flyers will be in safe hands.
“Passengers won’t notice anything different,” London City airport CEO Declan Collier said.
“It will only improve what we’re doing.”
From 2019, pilots using the runway at the airport in the heart of the city’s financial district will be directed by staff at a location in rural Hampshire 129 km from the control tower.
The controllers will direct planes using 14 high-definition cameras and an ultrapowerful zoom lens attached to a 50-metre tower near the runway, The Independent said.
They will be fed data from “super fast” and secure fibre connections.