IFATCA Provisional Policy is:

ATCOs shall not be required to provide Digital Air Traffic Services (DATS) to more than one aerodrome simultaneously.

When implementing DATS, standards, procedures, guidance, and clear requirements shall be developed.

Requirements at a minimum should include, but are not limited to:

• surveillance equipment capable of providing the desired service level; and
• a robust contingency plan in case of system failure.

DATS shall provide an equivalent or greater level of safety, compared to the previous configuration.

When replacing a conventional tower, DATS should be capable of providing an equivalent or greater level of service as the aerodrome control tower.

Standardised training requirements shall be developed for all ATCOs that work directly or indirectly with DATS.

A specific endorsement is required to operate at an aerodrome where DATS are provided.

For reasons of safety and human factors issues the minimum frame rate in a digital air traffic services unit shall be 25 FPS.

When an ATCO is endorsed to provide ATS at more than one aerodrome, special consideration shall be given to the associated human factors issues.

Simultaneous DATS provision is currently not supported because there is a lack of credible solutions concerning, but not limited to:

• the situational awareness of ATCOs when services are provided to multiple aerodromes
• safety related issues and operational risks
• the possible confusion in radio communication/phraseology
• the combination of aerodromes considering the airfield layouts, similar sounding
• taxiways, runway orientations, differences in time zone, surrounding terrain and
• geographical location
• the human machine interface (HMI) and system integration
• achieving runway safety
• on the type of flights (IFR/VFR) permissible
• contingencies in the event of system failures
• ATCOs workload management and complexity
• human factors research
• the concerns in the pilot communities
• the definition of low/medium/high density airport

IFATCA does not currently support the provision of DATS for aerodromes to multiple aerodromes simultaneously by ATCOs.