The FAA Has Opened Its New Control Tower At Charlotte Airport

Simple Flying

The busiest airport in North Carolina has opened a new 370-foot-tall air traffic control tower

Photo: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

Charlotte Douglas International Airport has inaugurated a new control tower. The US Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration dedicated a long-anticipated air traffic control tower at the nation's sixth-busiest airport.

The new structure stands at 370 feet, debuting at the No. 2 spot among the tallest towers in the United States. Federal Aviation Administration Deputy Administrator A. Bradley Mims expressed excitement at the dedication today, commenting,

“Aviation is an invaluable part of our American life and our national economy. The new, taller control tower will enable the airport to continue to expand its flight operations to grow alongside the vibrant Charlotte economy.”

The new tower opened this spring. Photo: FAA

The upgraded Air Traffic Control Tower and radar approach control is located on the airfield's south side and stands twice as high as the 150-foot tall 1979 tower it is replacing.

The new tower is the second-highest in the nation.

The tower has an 850-square-foot tower cab that provides air traffic controllers with a 360-degree view of the airfield. The base comprises a 42,000-square-foot building with an expanded terminal radar approach control (TRACON) for flights departing and arriving in the Charlotte airspace.

The new Charlotte tower replaced a existing tower that was commissioned in 1979. The facility's operational growth, new air traffic control technology and the Airport's addition of new runways and taxiways made the height and size of the old tower obsolete.

The new tower is the fifth-busiest tower in the world and the second-tallest FAA tower in the National Airspace System (NAS), ranking behind only the tower at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which stands at 398 feet.

"We are excited about the opening of the new FAA tower," said Haley Gentry, Chief Executive Officer of Charlotte International Airport. "It is a momentous occasion in the Airport's history as we continue to grow our operations and serve our rising passenger numbers. CLT is one of the busiest and fastest-growing airports in the world. The new tower will allow us to remain on course to building an airfield that will serve us for decades to come."

Photo: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

Seventh-highest tower in the world

Construction of the new tower commenced in the spring of 2016 to provide the FAA with enough height for air traffic controllers to have a clear view of the expanded airfield. The project cost an estimated $95 million in total The move will mean fewer delays as the upgraded systems are designed to improve the on-time performance of departing flights.

The tower ranks as the seventh highest in the world, nudging Vienna out of the top ten. The entire list of the world's tallest towers can be found below: