20 miles in radius up to 8,000 feet.
How long does a jet take to do 20 miles - 4/5 minutes? Is that an enormous amount of time to receive and absorb the traffic info?
The rumour is that it costs about $600,000 to operate the Port Hedland AFIS
And how much would a TWR service cost instead?
The AFIS was put in - some 4 or 5 years ago - because CASA considered the traffic levels justified it, but were - and I understand still are - not high enough to justify a TWR.
Sounds to me like a cost-effective alternative.