I'm a retired (7 years) ex-Heathrow Lighting Op, and being unfamiliar with the UAE system, I have to ask for some background. I think I am the only ex-EGLL L/Op on the forum, but stand to be corrected; just remember that I can only offer info that is possibly out of date.
Musket 90 has summed it up well, I think.
1. Is the UAE system switchable, ie does a single green route come up and simultaneously introduce red stop-bars at any junction? ISTR that Heathrow was not the only airport with switchable greens, but there were none with the same flexibility.
2. Is the UAE lighting system controlled by the GMC controller, or is it a 'team'? With respect to the ex-LL ATCOs in here, there would have been no way that a Heathrow GMC controller could have done both tasks with the same throughput, even if they could have 'magicced' the hardware down to fit into their desks.
3. If the latter, how much leeway does the Lighting Op in following the GMC instructions? In my day, there was no 'bottom-line' responsibility conferred on the L/Op; they were working 'under' the GMC man's licence, which in many ways put both parties into a no-mans-land scenario of real trust. I'd try and wriggle moving traffic around stationary a/c, eg a pushback onto a live taxiway, and would often do it without reference to the GMC man. OTOH, any specific taxiing instructions given to an a/c had to be followed by the L/Op.
Sorry about the long post, I'm intrigued by what's been installed in the UAE.
When Sir George says <<Lighting Control Panel Operator was ahead of the game> this only ever happened on my days off............
