‘Virtual tower’ could bring more flights to airport

The Fort Collins-Loveland Municipal Airport, which lost Allegiant Air in 2012 in part because it didn’t have a control tower, will pilot a virtual tower beginning next year.

The Federal Aviation Administration announced Thursday the airport has been selected as a test facility for new Virtual Air Traffic Control Tower technology.

Airport Director Jason Licon said Thursday the virtual tower, developed by the FAA and Colorado Department of Transportation, uses cameras and sensors that are monitored remotely. The $5.9 million cost for the test phase is being paid by the Colorado Aviation Fund and was unanimously approved by the Colorado Aeronautical Board.

The high-tech array provides an enhanced level of safety at a cost dramatically lower than a traditional manned air traffic control tower.

It is the first FAA-sanctioned virtual tower to be piloted in the U.S., Licon said. A similar, privately developed system is being tested in Leesburg, Virginia, he said.

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The blended airspace project is the third phase of a system that monitors air traffic in Colorado mountain areas where providing air traffic control is challenging.

The program has been an economic boon to communities like Aspen which can now land more aircraft more frequently, “which it desperately needed,” Licon said.

Loveland Mayor Cecil Gutierrez said in a press release the new technology “greatly enhances aviation safety at the airport. With that, opportunities for commercial air service and economic development both on and off the airport will open up.

“It is a major step forward for our regional authority," he said.

Fort Collins-Loveland was chosen as the initial test facility because of its close proximity to the FAA Approach and Air Route Traffic Control Centers in Denver and Longmont.

The lack of control tower was the “official” reason cited by Allegiant when it pulled out of Fort Collins-Loveland in 2012, but that rationale came as a surprise to airport officials.

Allegiant officials had previously said they were satisfied that airport traffic was monitored by Denver International Airport.

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Elite Airlines recently began flying between Fort Collins to Rockford, Illinois, and plans to expand its service to Mesa, Arizona, as soon as December.

The airport has been working for a couple of years on the blended airspace traffic management system, which would make a control tower unnecessary.

The FAA and CDOT are developing the technology and will install it and test it at Fort Collins-Loveland.

Hopes are high that a virtual tower will be “another tool in our toolbox” to attract increased air service and provide an additional level of safety.

“Community air service is very important, especially general aviation,” said David May, president and CEO of the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce.

“Commercial is tougher due to proximity to DIA, but there are probably some regional carrier opportunities. Having an actual or virtual tower helps because some airlines and their pilots are reluctant to fly into uncontrolled air space.”