Unusual ATC unit locations
 

I've heard that some ACC unit (in Austria?) was located in centre of town instead of more typical near-airport place.
Might be a rumour though, anyway, have you seen any units that were pretty far from nearest airport?
Any pictures maybe?

Montreal ACC is in the middle of an industrial estate.

Where I work, whilst reasonably close to Heathrow, is in the middle of a council estate.

Ahh, but london mil, it's soon going to be adjacent to luxury apartments on the old RAF Mess area.... luxury apartments that will be surrounded by the same council estate and the scrotes that can be found milling around it. Nice.

Actually the Officers' mess area was rejuvinated with "affordable housing" some years back. The luxury apartments (have you seen the sales area!!) are being constructed on the site of the old airmens' barrack blocks. Bit of a poor show; they didn't let us help demolish it this time.:(

Hi there!
Have a look at Karlsruhe ACC (Rhein Radar), Germany. They don´t even have an institution you might call "airport" there. :oh:
So you could spend a controller´s life there without seeing a single plane... that´s weird!

A lot of UK units were based at (ex) RAF stations long after the airfield disappeared - the original centre at Uxbridge, Drayton, Barton Hall, Gailes, Sopley, to name a few; Swanwick continues the tradition.

Oslo ACC (in Norway) is located about 85 km from the nearest airport, in a mountain close to the middle of nowhere (also Oslo (Gardermoen) approach is located at the same place)

Swanwick, with a w Lon, is an RAF station?

Technically yes its an RAF Station with about 100 RAF personnel there but its not an aerodrome/airport/airfield, the site is on a clay pit which was part of a brick making factory.

BD

I know, I work there!

That's quite strange with APP, where is radar itself located then?

Frunobulax -

It's not that unusual - the approach radar controllers for Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted, London City are all based at at West Drayton - (in the middle of a housing estate, about a mile from Heathrow airport).

They will all be moving to Swanwick (near Southampton) next year and will probably be joined eventually by Southampton approach radar.

The EGHI APP controllers would love that - Band 1 to Band 5 in 24 hours!

But they would probably have to validate another approach aswell to allow for that i'm sure.

Plus go to a five watch system, etc

But still it is near SOME airport anyway :)

Sumburgh Approach controllers are based at an airport - Aberdeen airport to be precise. Also, I believe that Doncaster/Shefield Robin Hood approach controllers are based at Liverpool John Lennon airport. :confused:

Of course, in this age of high-tech digital communications (yeah, right...) you can situate any air traffic control unit (with the exception of aerodrome control) anywhere you like. In fact I quite fancied the New Prestwick Centre to be situated in the South of France but no one listened :rolleyes:

What about the Doncaster Sheffield International (Finningley) guys working from a completely different airport (John Lennon International (Scouseport)):uhoh:

Are we moving AGAIN??!!!!!:{

Now come on, is it Shannon or Farnborough (IATA designator FAB)
Plenty of room at Farnborough; lots of new office blocks and vacant building land; bit like Milton Keynes in fact.

Although, technically ATC at LJLA is not at the airport, it is in a field outside the airport boundary!

Wasn't one of the locations looked at for NERC Milton Keynes? :confused:
Not many marinas around there though . . . ;)

I like the fact that helicopters working the oil/gas rigs between southern England and Holland are worked by a controller sat in North East Scotland (Aberdeen) using the callsign Anglia Radar. Not even in the same country!

And not only do we work helicopters just off Norfolk but we also work helicopters in a bit of airspace that isn't even in the Scottish or London FIRs! We work in the East Shetland Basin which is not to far off the coast of Norway in airspace that is in the Norwegion FIR albeit the control of aircraft within a defined area is delegated to us.

Sumburgh Radar, based in Aberdeen, works traffic in at least 3 FIRs: Scottish, Reykjavik and Stavanger.

Aberdeen Air traffic - taking over the world!

Looks like a great opportunity to outsource to Mumbai! :uhoh:

Slovenia has ATC (APP/ACC) in the middle of the town, 2 m underground. :ugh:

Good rumour Jonny!!

:ok: