Caption: Charlotte Control Tower and Administrative Building.

Similar to the airport spire, a supply chain control tower monitors activity, gathers and processes information, and coordinates actions from a central location.

With the help of new technologies, companies are broadening the supply chain control tower concept to encompass the full span of supply chain activities.

Mohammed Faisal Al-Dosari, Director of Aerodrome and Air Navigation at GC, highlighted the dangers of pointing a laser beam on the aircraft, which could cause a temporary or permanent loss of sight for the flight crew and the control tower workers, recent studies have found.

The seven-storey control tower structure stands at 111ft.

To keep up with the growth in traffic, the Egyptian authorities decided to build a third runway and a new control tower to ensure optimal visibility over the extended airport.

The control towers will use NAV CANADA's technology to manage critical flight data for their day-to-day operations.

National Air Traffic Services (NATS) installed the latest air traffic systems, creating one of the most technologically-advanced control towers in the UK.

As an example, the control towers at Mansfield Regional Airport in Ohio and at Palm Springs International Airport in California are operational only for 17 hours a day, while 193 airports with scheduled commercial service do not have control towers.

Air traffic controllers in the US are involved in a dispute with the US government over a proposal to save money by expanding the privatisation of control towers at smaller airports.

US lawmakers have reportedly negotiated an agreement to allow private companies to operate about 70 air traffic control towers.