The role of the airports control tower

The Air Traffic Controller is the person responsible for providing the air traffic control service, ATC – Air Traffic Control, directing the aircrafts traffic in the airspace of its responsibility and airports in a fluid, safe and orderly manner, giving pilots the relevant authorisations and instructions as well as the necessary information to avoid collisions between aircrafts or obstacles in their manoeuvres. 

There are different types of controller according to the sector in which they work:  

• Authorization Controller (DEL): responsible for giving Flight Plan authorizations to departing aircrafts.
• Ground Controller (GND): responsible for directing traffic through taxiways (TWY-Taxiway),  from boarding gates to the runway,  to other platforms at the airport or from the runway to the parking area. In short, it controls all aircrafts’ movements on the ground. 
• Tower Controller (TWR): controls the runway and its intersections, authorising landings and take-offs, and controlling the visual flight rules (VFR). It operates in the space known as ATZ with a range of 5 nautical miles (9260 m) and reports adverse weather, runway works or any eventualities that may affect the operation such as bird flocks.
• The Approach Controller (APP):  organizes traffic leaving and arriving at one or more airports. After taking off, it transfers them to the centre controller (ACC) before reaching the limit of its airspace in both extension and height. On approach the ACC controller transfers the aircraft to TWR as they approach to land. 
• The Route or Area Controller (ACC): controls the rest of the airspace. The boundaries between approach and route are established between the control centres by letter of agreement. In general, the route or area controller manages the traffic established at a flight level and the approach controller the traffic in evolution, both, ascending for the ideal flight level and descending to land at the destination airport.