Design and Implementation of a Solution for the Provisioning of Converged Remote Tower and Facility Management Services over Satellite IP for Greek Heliports

The only way to quickly provide health and disaster recovery services to the large number of isolated islands in Greece is to fly there by helicopter. For this reason, there are 46 heliports operated 24/7 by the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA). Unfortunately, the Greek terrain is extremely difficult as far as provisioning of telecommunication means is concerned, so connectivity with the heliports is virtually nonexistent. This leads to reduced radio coverage, especially at low altitudes, severely impairing the heliports´ operational capabilities. Moreover, heliports are unmanned and unsupervised, and there is no indication as to the weather conditions there. Thus, flight controllers authorize landings/takeoffs to/from heliports, normally a life or death decision, while remaining unaware of what pilots may run into. This article presents the design and implementation of a solution to these problems, contributing to flight safety and heliport maintenance/operation procedures as well as providing a working paradigm regarding the quality of satellite communication services for other air traffic control (ATC) applications.