Regional airports in Antwerp, Kortrijk and Ostend will also receive a digital control tower

A decision must be made this year about where the digital tower for the Flemish regional airports will be located. Six locations are still eligible: three in West Flanders (Diksmuide, Jabbeke, Wevelgem), two in East Flanders (Evergem, Ghent) and one in Antwerp (Grobbendonk).

According to the current timing, the digital tower should be operational in 2027 or 2028.

With a digital tower, the air traffic controllers are no longer in a physical control tower at the airport. Masts with cameras at the airport transmit images to a room with screens at another location. Thanks to the cameras, which are equipped with infrared, among other things, air traffic controllers can see the aircraft clearly on the screens, even at night or in fog. Additional information can also be projected on each aircraft.

The country’s first digital control tower will be located in Namur. Flight movements to and from Charleroi and Liège airports will be managed there, normally in the course of 2026. The foundation stone of the building was laid about ten days ago.

The images from the cameras at Liège airport are already being forwarded to the prototype in Steenokkerzeel. “They allow the staff to be trained and the installation to be perfected technologically and ergonomics,” so that the digital tower in Namur can be put into use as soon as it is ready, says Johan Decuyper of Skeyes.