Control tower move a success

SIGNIFICANTLY smaller but definitely shinier than its predecessor, the new air traffic control tower in Cork Airport will help staff keep every little Fokker in sight.

The €7.5 million tower, designed by award-winning architects Scott Tallon Walker, switches operations to the western side of the runway, about 1km away from where the old tower lies.

In all, 27 staff were involved in the move, including air traffic controllers, engineers, as well as management and administration staff.

Owners of the tower — the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) — decided a fresh build was more economical than refurbishing the old tower, which would have required “an extensive and costly refurbishment”.

The IAA was also cognisant of the interruption to services re-equipping the old tower would have caused. Notwithstanding the decline in traffic figures, the IAA said the move “positions it to deal with anticipated traffic levels at the airport for the next 15 — 20 years”.

The main driver behind the construction of a new tower was the necessary upgrade of the Air Traffic Management (ATM) system “so as to provide connectivity between Cork and the ATM system in use at the IAA’s air traffic control centres at Shannon and Dublin”, an IAA statement said.

Donie Mooney, IAA director of operations, said: “Cork operations staff are now better equipped and have a top class working environment from which they can continue to provide top quality air traffic management services to our customers.”

IAA chief Eamonn Brennan said investment in the new tower proved the IAA’s commitment to the future of Cork Airport.

Construction of the tower commenced in August 2007 and took 10 months to complete, while fitting out and testing the upgraded ATM system took until mid October 2009.

The project was delivered on time and within budget and was paid for entirely by the IAA.