Issue 1 2007

Rebuilding Toronto Pearson

Issue 1 2007 / 6 February 2007 / Lloyd McCoomb, President and CEO, Greater Toronto Airports Authority

Having recently been voted Best Global Airport 2006 by the Institute of Transport Management, Toronto Pearson International Airport is delivering on a decade-old promise.

Shortly after assuming operational responsibility for Toronto Pearson International Airport in 1996, the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) set out to fulfil a strategic vision that would deliver Toronto Pearson as the North American airport of choice.

The vision was framed by the development of premier airport facilities and services to meet future air travel demands; a strategic location on the North American continent; and a growing role in global trade, finance and commerce. (more…)

Tagged with: Airport profiles, Canada, Greater Toronto Airports Authority, Lloyd McCoomb, Toronto Pearson International Airport

Airport CDM and the ground handling industry

Issue 1 2007 / 6 February 2007 / Elisabeth Lagios, Airport CDM Project Manager, EUROCONTROL

It is a fact that airports currently face the challenge of constantly increasing air traffic demand. Very few new airports are planned or under construction, and a saturated infrastructure will, in turn, make the job of maintaining maximum operational efficiency more and more complex.

With the division of liability for Ground Handling functions varying at European airports, and the ever increasing pressure to deliver and maintain service level agreements with Airlines, Airport Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) will aid ground handling companies to maximise the use of resources with improved planning opportunities. (more…)

Tagged with: Airport Collaborative Decision Making (CDM), Elisabeth Lagios, EUROCONTROL, Ground handling

Friction and prediction

Issue 1 2007 / 6 February 2007 / John Croll, Research Officer and Test Pilot, Canadian National Research Council and Angelo Boccanfuso, Senior Development Officer (R&D), Transportation Development Centre, Transport Canada

Wet and icy runways are the leading cause of landing accidents worldwide. But, while timely and accurate information about runway surface conditions is critical, methods for assessing weather conditions vary from one country to another, and information communicated to pilots can vary from one airport to another. In some countries, friction measurement is conducted for runway maintenance purposes only and the information is not passed on to air traffic controllers or pilots.

The Joint Winter Runway Friction Measurement Program (JWRFMP), an international initiative supported by more than 30 organisations in 12 countries, including the U.S. Canada, France, Germany, Norway, and Japan, has conducted extensive tests on aircraft braking performance and runway friction measuring devices on winter contaminated surfaces. One of the significant findings of this program was that aircraft braking performance correlates well with the friction measured by a decelerometer-based device on winter contaminated runway test surfaces.
Findings from the JWRFMP have led to improved aeronautical guidance material in Canada, where winter is a major preoccupation. A decelerometer is used to determine with some accuracy the effect that a contaminant has on reducing the surface friction of a runway and to provide meaningful information to pilots. The readings taken by this instrument are averaged and reported as a Canadian Runway Friction Index (CRFI). (more…)

Tagged with: Angelo Boccanfuso, Canadian National Research Council, John Croll, Runway friction, Transport Canada

A logistical dream

Issue 1 2007 / 6 February 2007 / Shaun Cowlam, Logistics Director, BAA Heathrow

Restricted to the north and south by two of the world’s most heavily utilised runways, to the east by existing terminals and to the west by Europe’s busiest motorway interchange, space is at a premium at Heathrow’s new Terminal 5 site. There’s little room and a large logistical challenge: how to complete one of Europe’s largest and most complex infrastructure projects at one of the world’s busiest airports.

The opening of Terminal 5 (T5) in March 2008 is widely anticipated to be one of the aviation industry’s most exciting events. T5 will be the first terminal to open at Heathrow for over 20 years and is expected to transform terminal design and passenger experience.

To date, the construction of Terminal 5 has enjoyed unprecedented success, remaining on time and on budget with an outstanding safety record. This is no small feat given the scale and complexity of the construction programme – 16 major projects including rail extensions; an M25 spur road; a new control tower and two satellite buildings – and 134 sub projects. Added to this is T5’s location adjacent to the world’s busiest international airport and the numerous constraints and planning requirements imposed by the T5 Public Inquiry. (more…)

Tagged with: BAA Heathrow, Shaun Cowlam, T5, United Kingdom

Trialling large-scale biometric systems

Issue 1 2007 / 6 February 2007 / H. Carr-Archer, Director, International Association for Biometrics (IAFB)

Great expectations burden the biometrics industry. It’s difficult to conceive of a future for air travel in which they are not relied upon for security and passenger processing, but the timescale has been hazy. All that may soon change. The UK’s largest biometric trial was recently carried out at Heathrow, testing a system for the processing of all travellers, not only frequent flyers; the future may be a step closer.

Biometric systems have been deployed in a significant number of airports in recent years. These systems have usually been aimed at speeding the processing time at airports for frequent fliers. Many have used iris systems renowned for their accuracy. A particular set of business requirements have driven these schemes. Amongst them has been the recognition that a frequent flyer will only be enrolled on to the system once and may then be checked on many future occasions. Consequently, the time taken to enrol is not a major business requirement. (more…)

Tagged with: Biometrics, H. Carr-Archer, International Association for Biometrics (IAFB), Security

Facilitating growth

Issue 1 2007 / 6 February 2007 / Michael Zaddach, Vice President for IT and Communication Systems, Flughafen München GmbH

Munich Airport’s impressive, recent growth shows no sign of slowing. Over 30 million passengers were recorded in 2006, the first time that the airport has broken the barrier in a single operating year, and expansion plans are already in place to accommodate future demand. However, as Michael Zaddach explains, success can’t be achieved or sustained through construction alone. IT underpins Munich’s growth, invisibly smoothing operations and the processing of ever greater numbers of passengers and volumes of baggage.

Just days before Christmas 2006, Munich Airport welcomed its 30 millionth passenger for the year, cementing its claim to a permanent spot among Europe’s major air transport hubs. This milestone marked the start of the latest chapter in Munich Airport’s success story, which saw its most recent high point with the opening of Terminal 2 in 2003. Airport planners are already at work on new infrastructure projects, responding to the unabated growth in passenger numbers, take-offs and landings, and cargo volume at Munich Airport. In 2007, construction will start on a new freight facility, and an additional hotel is in the planning stage. (more…)

Tagged with: Flughafen München GmbH, Germany, Michael Zaddach, Munich Airport, Operations

Combining RFID and video surveillance

Issue 1 2007 / 6 February 2007 / Dr. Paul Brennan, Reader in Electronics, University College London

The need in major airports to move a large number of people through a complex environment as efficiently and safely as possible is becoming an increasingly challenging task. The volume of flights is growing along with the size of aircraft, and security has, in recent years, become a critical issue. With this in mind, the EU-funded Optag project was launched in 2004 to study the feasibility of a combined RFID tag passenger location and video surveillance system to enhance airport efficiency, safety and security.

The basic concept, illustrated in Figure 1, is for airports to be fitted with a network of combined RFID tag readers and high-resolution panoramic cameras, spaced at around 15-20m intervals, which are used to monitor the movements of people around the terminal building or buildings. Each passenger carries or wears an RFID tag, which can allow location to an accuracy of around 1m, and the video and tag data merged to give a very powerful surveillance capability with a wide range of potential benefits. (more…)

Tagged with: CCTV, Dr. Paul Brennan, Security, University College London

Fraport in 2007

Issue 1 2007 / 6 February 2007 / Dr. Stefan Schulte, Member of the Executive Board and Executive Director Finance (CFO), Fraport AG

Fraport AG, operators of Frankfurt airport since 1924, have developed into one of the industry’s leading companies, offering a range of services from traffic and terminal management to real estate marketing. Dr Stefan Schulte discusses future plans for Fraport AG, with safety and security as top priorities.

Fraport AG is a leading player in the global airport industry and following its initial public offering in June 2001, has become the second largest listed airport company in the world by revenues. Fraport trades on the Frankfurt stock exchange (share symbol FRA) and is a member of Germany’s M-DAX mid-cap index of blue chip companies. The company is listed on the London-based FTSE4Good Index and the Dow Jones STOXX Sustainability Index – the most important indices for sustainability (according to strict criteria in the areas of corporate leadership, environmental protection, and social and corporate responsibility). Fraport is regularly covered in The Financial Times survey of European Top 500 companies. (more…)

Tagged with: Dr. Stefan Schulte, Frankfurt Airport (FRA), Fraport AG, Policy & strategy

After the storm

Issue 1 2007 / 6 February 2007 / Sean C. Hunter, Interim Director of Aviation, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport

Recovery from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina continues apace in New Orleans and nowhere more so than at the city’s airport, where commercial air service resumed only two weeks after the storm. Tourists are returning and Sean C. Hunter forecasts a continuing rise in passenger figures.

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in the Gulf South, wreaking havoc and establishing itself as the worst natural disaster in U.S. history. Surviving the initial fallout from the storm, the City of New Orleans fell victim to flooding due to the collapse of levees designed to retain the surrounding waters from lakes and canals. Until the resumption of commercial air service on September 13, 2005, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport was at the centre of the rescue and recovery effort for the survivors in the Orleans and Jefferson Parishes, and marked a place for itself in aviation history serving in a number of roles. (more…)

Tagged with: Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, Policy & strategy, Sean C. Hunter, USA

Modernising the U.S. ATC system

Issue 1 2007 / 6 February 2007 / Basil J. Barimo, Vice President Operations and Safety, Air Transport Association of America

If the U.S. air traffic control (ATC) system is not fundamentally reformed to handle the projected rapid growth in the number of aircraft using the services of the system, the U.S. aviation industry and all of its stakeholders, including our nation’s airports, will face an unparalleled confluence of challenges with serious negative consequences. There is clearly a lot at stake.

The U.S. aviation industry is a vital piece of the American economy, driving $1.2 trillion dollars in domestic output and 11.4 million jobs. Reform must begin now.

Given the fact that hundreds of new Very Light Jets (VLJs) will soon be navigating our already constrained airspace, this dramatic increase in traffic could portend a calamitous gridlocked future. If we take smart steps, however, we can ensure that the air traffic control (ATC) system in the U.S. is prepared to handle the growth that keeps our planes, passengers and cargo moving smoothly around the world. (more…)

Tagged with: Air traffic control (ATC), Basil J. Barimo, The Air Transport Association of America (ATA), USA

A holistic approach to aerodrome certification

Issue 1 2007 / 6 February 2007 / George Saounatsos, Associate Project Director, ADPi

Safety, regularity and efficiency of aircraft operations at aerodromes are of paramount importance, thus generating the need for the existence of a formal system to verify and validate that the airport operator can safely accommodate the foreseen aeronautical activity.

For an airport opening for the first time the requirement for a formal certification system is even more crucial, for both the aviation authority, granting the authorisation to open and operate the airport, and the airport operator itself, awaiting the realisation of its operational model.

For this purpose ICAO established the manual on Aerodrome Certification in 2001, which provides guidance to States in establishing a regulatory framework intended to ensure that the facilities, equipment and operational procedures at aerodromes comply with the ICAO Standard and Recommended Practices and the national codes in effect. Prior to this manual being released, the most prominent certification processes were those of the United Kingdom CAA, as described in CAP 168, and FAA Part 139. (more…)

Tagged with: ADPi, Aerodromes, George Saounatsos

The next generation of airport terminal

Issue 1 2007 / 6 February 2007 / Marc Noyelle, Executive Director & Chief Development Officer, Aéroports de Paris

Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport will undergo a phenomenal expansion over the next two years, one driven by necessity and increasing passenger numbers, but shaped by a commitment to design. Marc Noyelle discusses how Aéroports de Paris is blending function and aesthetics to create an airport of the future.

Between March 2007 and March 2009, Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport will increase its capacity by 20 million passengers (see Figure 1) through a series of expansions: the S3 satellite, June 2007 (8.5 Mpax); the new concourse of terminal 2E in March 2008 (6 Mpax); the T2G regional terminal in September 2008 (3 Mpax); and the completion of terminal 1’s renovation (2.5 Mpax.)

Aéroports de Paris raised the funds to carry out this project by increasing its capital and floating its shares on the stock market in the summer of 2006, since the company is now listed on the Paris stock exchange. Its cash flow enables it to cover this large-scale programme costing €2.7 billion. (more…)

Tagged with: Aéroports de Paris, Airport profiles, France, Marc Noyelle, Paris-Charles de Gaulle

Meeting passenger needs

Issue 1 2007 / 6 February 2007 / Martyn Lloyd, Commercial Director, London Luton Airport

Due to an increasing number of visitors to London Luton Airport, the recent redevelopment of the departure and arrival lounges has helped to produce a relaxed atmosphere, which provides passengers with an ideal terminal building.

In September 2004, London Luton embarked on a 10 month project to develop the departure and arrivals lounges and other facilities at the airport. At a cost of £38 million the project was devised to create more space and a relaxed environment for passengers to eat, shop, and pass their time.

The redevelopment of London Luton’s lounges was deemed essential as the facility was at capacity and the airport, being London’s fastest growing, was expecting further significant growth.

As well as an increase in passenger numbers, passenger demographics and tastes had also changed dramatically since the original lounges were designed. Once a base for charter flights, London Luton has grown and continues to expand as the airport of choice for many low cost airlines such as Easyjet and Ryanair. (more…)

Tagged with: London Luton Airport, Martyn Lloyd, Policy & strategy, United Kingdom