Canberra Airport will continue to wait for a new control tower, with construction slated to occur in the "medium term" -- the same priority level as five years ago.
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As medium term was defined in the airport's master plans as the next "5-10 years", the city could have expected this year's draft plan to include a move into the short term column - defined, equally as broadly, as "within five years".
An Airservices Australia spokesman said the exact timing for the construction of a new tower was still to be determined.
"Airservices has been undertaking an upgrade of our facilities nationally as part of our commitment to deliver a combined Civil-Military Air Traffic System," he said.
"The second phase of our tower upgrade program over the next two years involves extending the life of Brisbane and Cairns towers."
Locations and timing for all further towers were still under consideration, he said.
Canberra Airport's tower was built in 1976, making it the second oldest - after the 1956 nerve centre in Hobart - at any of the state or territory capitals' primary airports.
Airservices, which owns and operates 29 civilian towers, has opened new facilities in Rockhampton, Adelaide and Melbourne in the last two years.
The Airservices spokesman said the new tower technology being rolled out across the country, known as the Integrated Tower Automation Suite , combined flight and operational data, surveillance and voice communications into a "single integrated, tower-specific layout".
"The new system will provide controllers with four customisable touch screens displaying electronic flight strips, operational information, weather, terminal area and surveillance (radar) data," he said.
A Canberra Airport spokeswoman said the airport would ideally like to see a new tower built within five years, but it was not their decision.
"We have a very collaborative working relationship [with Airservices] on the tower – we've done joint studies on the positioning of the new tower – and we understand they have priorities," she said.
"The technical requirements for international flights, 24/7 operations, and a growing airport meant that upgrading the infrastructure is inevitable, and we're in ongoing and close dialogue about that."
