Part of a modernization program: as in Liège, in operation by 2026

The installation of a camera and antenna has already begun at Brussels-Charleroi Airport, Belgium, as part of the "Digital Tower Project" (DiTo) by Skeyes, the Belgian public company responsible for air traffic control, in close collaboration with Sowaer (Société Wallonne des Aéroports). This innovative and complex project is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2026. From that date, air traffic at the airports of Liège (which has had its digital tower since November 2023) and Charleroi will be remotely managed from a digital air traffic control center located in Namur, also in Wallonia, where Sowaer, responsible for the development of Walloon airports, and Skeyes are jointly building the first digital tower control center in Belgium.

The new 37-meter-high tower at Charleroi is equipped with high-resolution cameras and advanced technology that allows air traffic controllers to accurately monitor traffic from a distance. Taller than the current control tower, it allows for precise management of all aircraft movements on the ground, during take-off and landing, and in flight over the airport. Thanks to the advanced technology, controllers receive more information than is normally perceivable by the naked eye. This, Skeyes points out, is particularly important in adverse weather conditions. This helps improve the safety and efficiency of air traffic. The mast is located in the southern part of the airport, 500 meters from the current control tower.

The images from the digital cameras in Charleroi will already be available within a few weeks at the DiTo test center in Skeyes near Steenokkerzeel in Flanders. There, the aircraft movements at both airports, which are 85 km apart as the crow flies, will be projected onto screens in real time. This is to test and optimize the systems so that improvements can still be made before the control center in Namur becomes operational.