Northern Colorado Regional Airport still aims to be first in country to implement "fully remote" control tower after company abandons project

After nearly a decade of trying to implement the first fully remote control tower at a U.S. airport in northern Colorado, the company tasked with the project has announced it is giving up on its mission. 

Searidge Technologies, a Canadian company, announced it will no longer continue working on the project at the Northern Colorado Regional Airport. However, the Colorado Department of Transportation, the Federal Aviation Administration and the airport's leadership said they still plan to move forward with the project. 

The airport (FNL) is located between Loveland and Fort Collins on the west side of I-25. It serves one of the fastest-growing regions along the Rocky Mountains and averages more than 110,000 operations every year.  

However, airlines with larger aircraft have been reluctant to operate out of the airport for several reasons, one of them being the airport's lack of a permanent functioning control tower.  

"A control tower is important for any airport," said David Ruppel, Interim Director of FNL. "(The community we serve) is bigger than Colorado Springs. There is a lot of interest in having access to that commercial service." 

Airlines like Avelo and Allegiant have pulled their operations out of the airport, in part due to the control tower issue. 

"One of the things they said was they needed to have a tower to be able to support their operations here," Ruppel said. 

In 2014 CDOT and the FAA selected FNL as the first airport in the country to try and implement a fully remote air control tower. Other countries already have such technologies in operation. The hope was that FNL would lay the foundation for the software to then be used in other airports and states. 

The technology uses a tower of cameras and several other technologies to track aircraft in the surrounding area. 

FNL and CDOT decided investing in the technology was much more cost efficient to their communities, noting a regular tower costs up to $20 million to build.  

"(The remote tower) would work the same, but without the construction expense, the operational expense and all the other costs that come with constructing a brick and mortar control tower," said David Ulane, Aeronautics Director for CDOT's Division of Aeronautics.  

Ulane said CDOT still remains dedicated to pursuing a remote air control tower. They are now looking into other companies to take over the project.  

"We really see the benefits of this long term. Not just for northern Colorado but for aviation across Colorado," Ulane said. "This technology could provide (other) airports the ability to cost-effectively leverage that service going forward." 

FNL is reported to be also conducting studies on the costs of moving forward with a traditional tower, which will be considered alongside any other future companies trying to continue the remote concept.  

Ruppel said he still believes the airport will be the first in the United States to land the technology safely and effectively.  

"From our perspective it is still the most cost effective," Ruppel said.  

"We really see the benefits of this long term. Not just for northern Colorado but for aviation across Colorado," Ulane said.  

The airport continues it's construction of a new terminal and the widening of the airport's runway to try and attract larger providers. A temporary mobile control tower is now in use.