Maintenance work on the control tower in Geneva

The tower of Geneva Airport – known colloquially as the “Goldorak” because of its appearance like the Japanese robot – will be undergoing maintenance work on the outer façade from Monday, 7 August 2023. This means that the 58 air traffic controllers working in shifts in the tower can continue to manage air traffic safely and efficiently from the control centre. The few works on the window of the lookout will therefore be carried out at night, so as not to interfere with their visibility. Since the duration of the maintenance work also depends on weather conditions, the timeframe of maintenance work has not yet been bindingly determined, although several months must be expected. No visual changes to the building are planned.

“Some elements of the façade of the control tower building, symbol of air traffic control in Geneva and property of Skyguide, have reached the end of their service life. We are therefore carrying out the necessary maintenance work today to ensure the safety of the people working there until 2035,” says Pascal Hochstrasser, Head Tower/Approach in Geneva at Skyguide.

After almost 40 years, “Goldorak” is getting on in years and would now have to undergo very extensive work to ensure sustainable use. The first stage of the maintenance work only concerns its façade, then the building’s equipment (lift) and infrastructure (ventilation, heating, air conditioning, electricity) will have to be replaced. However, the cost of a complete renovation would be so high that Skyguide is looking at alternative solutions. The age of the current tower is therefore a fitting opportunity to turn to the digital environment. For this reason, the control tower in Geneva is to be replaced by a so-called digital “remote tower” in about ten years’ time. The concept of the virtual control tower is already developing rapidly worldwide and offers many advantages through the use of new technologies, which will also be implemented in Geneva for the first time in a few years