SubscribeHeathrow’s latest landmark reaches another milestone today (Wednesday) – the airport’s new air traffic control tower is officially opened.
The Secretary of State for Transport, Rt Hon Douglas Alexander MP, will this morning unveil a plaque in the entrance to the £50m tower.
Controllers have already been operating there for the past seven weeks after successfully completing the switch-over from the old building to the new, 87-metre-high centre at 2am on Saturday 21 April.
Planning for the change took more than two years and the 60 controllers based at Heathrow were trained on a custom-built, £1.5m simulator to ensure a smooth transition.
Secretary of State for Transport Doug Alexander MP, (pointing) who opened officially the new control tower at Heathrow today (Wednesday) is shown around by NATS Heathrow air traffic control manager, Phil Layton. (corr)
Mr Alexander said: "I am delighted to open officially this new tower at Heathrow. It is a symbol of BAA and NATS' commitment to invest in the efficiency and safety of Heathrow for the benefit of the travelling public now and into the future."
The tower has a 360 degree view of the entire airfield and handles aircraft at the world's most intensively-used airport: up to 90 arrivals and departures an hour, 365 days a year.
Paul Barron, NATS Chief Executive, said: "Our people have responded to this challenge with their usual professionalism and dedication. They have made sure this major change to the way we work will pave the way for Terminal Five and the air traffic control future of Heathrow."
NATS, together with BAA Heathrow and the major airlines at the airport, developed a plan for the first month in the life of the new tower to limit hourly aircraft movements to give controllers time to familiarise themselves with the new system and surroundings. In the event, it only took a week before controllers were able to revert to "business as usual."