Geneva Airport's control tower marks its 25th anniversary
(Thomson Reuters ONE) - Corporate news announcement processed and transmitted by Hugin AS.The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Geneva, 3 December 2009. Friday 4 December marks the 25th anniversaryof the entry-into-service of the present control tower at GenevaAirport. Today's tower controllers manage and monitor between 450 and600 arrivals and departures every day, or some 175 000 flights ayear; and that figure is rising, too. Air navigation services atGeneva Airport can look back on a longer history.More than 40 metres up, 24 hours a dayThe Tower/Approach unit of skyguide's Geneva Airport control tower isstaffed by 45 air traffic controllers, working in shifts at theirstations over 40 metres above the ground. The tower is staffed 24hours a day - even at night, when the airport is closed - toimmediately handle any emergency landing which might be required.The number of aircraft landing and taking off at Geneva Airport hasvirtually doubled in the 25 years since the present tower came intooperation. While some 250 movements a day were handled in 1984, todaythe figure ranges between 450 and 600. The technical facilities havebeen steadily developed and refined to keep pace with the increasesin traffic volumes. Geneva's tower, approach and departurecontrollers manage all approaching and departing flights within a50-kilometre radius of the airport. The air traffic on the airways ofthe region's upper airspace is handled by the Geneva Area ControlCentre.It all began in 1922The story of air navigation services at Geneva Airport begins asearly as 1922, when a telegraphic transmitter/receiver station waserected by Marconi AG, one of skyguide's predecessor companies.Initially, the station's transmissions were limited to news ofdepartures, arrivals and delays and - at certain times of the day -meteorological reports. In the early years, these messages werelargely sent to other airports: few aircraft of the time wereequipped with radio transmitter/receivers. Not until 1927, when a fewairlines started experimenting with instrument flight, did suchinformation begin to be sent to aircraft, too. During the SecondWorld War, Radio Schweiz AG (as the company had been renamed in 1928)put its Geneva Airport station and its further aeronautical radiofacilities throughout Switzerland at the disposal of the country'snews and reconnaissance services.The present Geneva tower and its predecessorsIt was in 1948 that Radio Schweiz AG opened its first control towerat Geneva Airport. It was a temporary structure, made of wood. Butthanks to the provision of a short-wave transmitter, the controllerswere now able to speak to pilots by radio telephony (rather than theMorse Code telegraphy that they had previously exclusively used), aslong as the aircraft they were communicating with were also suitablyequipped.Two years later, in 1950, a second version of the control tower cameinto operation. This was located on top of the newly-opened passengerterminal.The next year, 1951, saw the installation of the first VOR (VHFomnidirectional range), a ground station serving as a navigation aid:the VOR's signal is processed by a receiver aboard the aircraft andprovides the pilot with directional information. This innovationtangibly simplified the work of the tower controllers, enabling themto plan and anticipate the aircraft's route.Rapid technological developmentThe first radar in Geneva was put into operation in 1953. This newpossibility of seeing flights on a screen even when they were a longdistance away transformed air traffic control. The new technologymade it easier to manage and monitor traffic; but it also increasedthe responsibilities that the controllers had to bear.979 marked a further milestone in the history of Geneva air trafficservices when the first female controller began her tower work. Thesame year, the Swiss government approved the construction of a newcontrol tower.In 1980, information technology was used for the first time toidentify aircraft on the radar screen. Since then, every aircraftshown on the screen has been displayed with its flight number. Andsince 1983, the flight plans submitted by pilots have been processedby computer. This electronic processing enables the key data of anyflight - such as heading, altitude and identification - to beautomatically printed out at the workstation of the controllermonitoring it. This eliminated the manual transfer of such data(which was often repeated many times over), and with it a furthersource of potential errors. On 4 December of the following year,1984, Radio Schweiz AG put the present Geneva control tower intoservice. Skyguide and its recent predecessors have continued tofurther enhance their systems and processes ever since.Pictures of the control tower:1st tower 1948-19842nd tower 1950-1984Tower 1984 under constructionTower 1984 on the insideCurrent control tower 1984-todayskyguideswiss air navigation services ltd.media relationsCH-1215 Geneva 15Contact:phone: +41 22 417 4008email: presse(at)skyguide.chinternet: www.skyguide.chSkyguide is responsible for providing air navigation services withinSwiss airspace and in the airspace of certain adjoining regions inneighbouring countries. The company guides the civil and militaryaircraft entrusted to its care - around 3 400 flights a day or 1.24million a year - through some of the busiest and most complexairspace in Europe. Skyguide is a non-profit limited company whichhas its head office in Geneva. The majority of its shares are held bythe Swiss Confederation. The company generates annual operatingrevenue of over CHF 372 million and employs some 1 400 people at 14locations in Switzerland. Skyguide is also a member, together withits sister organisations in Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg andthe Netherlands, of the FABEC initiative to create a commonfunctional airspace block that will bring greater efficiency toCentral Europe's air traffic management services and activities.The media release can be downloaded from the following link:http://hugin.info/134388/R/1358787/330966.pdf --- End of Message ---skyguidePostfach 1518 Zürich-Flughafen SwitzerlandWKN: 1957462; ISIN: CH0019574620; Listed: Domestic Bonds in SIX Swiss Exchange;
Datum: 03.12.2009 - 10:31 Uhr
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