Issue 4 2006

Improving safety for ground handlers

Issue 4 2006 / 1 December 2006 / Christine Barringer, Head of Transportation Sector, Health and Safety Executive

The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) is responsible, along with colleagues in Local Authorities (LAs), for enforcing health and safety legislation and standards in all work activities in Great Britain.

Following concerns about increasing accident numbers at airports, and with the introduction of the Government’s Revitalising Health & Safety strategy, the HSE and industry representatives established the Revitalising Health & Safety in Air Transport (RHSAT) initiative in 2002. Since then, the number of injuries to airport workers has been in decline, a testament to the ongoing commitment of duty holders to make the airport transport industry a safer place to work.

Key risk areas have been identified: falls from height from catering vehicles, open aircraft doors, and other types of access or servicing equipment; Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in baggage and cargo handling; vehicle management; and slips, trips and falls. All of these risks are particularly evident during aircraft turnround, and HSE published HSG209 Aircraft Turnround in 2000, giving further guidance on the application of legislation such as the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999. The guidance is intended to be complimentary to CAA guidance CAP642 Airside Safety Management. (more…)

Taking a leap forward in safe winter operations

Issue 4 2006 / 1 December 2006 / Tor Børre Langedahl, Executive Director, Avinor AS, Olav Aarrestad, Partner, Terramar AS and Hans Jørgen Bugge, Senior Advisor, Terramar AS

Better than yesterday – but not as good as tomorrow. The quest for excellence characterises Avinor’s everyday activities and long-term plans in the operation of 46 airports throughout Norway’s demanding topography and harsh winter conditions. (more…)

Securing Domodedovo

Issue 4 2006 / 1 December 2006 / Andrey Danilov, Head of Aviation Security, Domodedovo International Airport

Security at Domodedovo International Airport is no case of Russian roulette. Lessons were learned from the terrorist events of 2004 and a commitment to innovative technology, training and technique has seen the Moscow hub exceed international standards and become a model for other airports.

The modern airport is a super-technological enterprise of increased risk, whose security complex encompasses a number of measures and activities. All other factors being equal, security of such enterprises is primarily ensured by professionalism and a high level of training of security services on the one hand, and technologies and equipment on the other.

Domodedovo International Airport is the principal air gate of Russia. Some of the largest foreign and Russian airlines fly here, such as British Airways, Thai International Airways, China Eastern, Iberia, Singapore Airlines, EL AL Israel Airlines, Royal Jordanian Airlines, BMI, Transaero, S7 Airlines and Russian AirUnion Alliance airlines. When choosing an airport, an airline considers conditions that ensure the security of its flight operations. The fact that the list of Domodedovo’s client airlines keeps growing indicates that our airport is trusted. Today, according to independent experts, Domodedovo is one of the safest European airports. (more…)

Pavement maintenance management tools

Issue 4 2006 / 1 December 2006 / Marc Stet, Member of the CROW Airport Study Group on PCN and the Study Group on Runway Roughness

Unforeseen operational delays related to pavements are not acceptable for airport authorities. This and limitations in the available funds and resources, as well as the strong need felt by the decision makers to qualify and to quantify the consequences of allocating budgets to maintenance, has led to the situation where use of a pavement maintenance management system is a must for airport authorities. (more…)

Applying TETRA at your airport

Issue 4 2006 / 1 December 2006 / Harald Ludwig, Chairman - Technical Forum, TETRA MoU Association

TETRA is more than just a digital radio communications system. A growing number of airport users are discovering that the rich feature set of TETRA and its broad range of data services can be used to improve the efficiency of daily tasks and workflows.

This is important because the total number of flight passengers is increasing every year, but the number of airports is not; existing airports therefore need to improve their efficiency to handle more and more passengers. TETRA applications help to improve the efficiency at airports.

In the first months after the roll-out of a new radio communication system it is mostly used as a replacement for the old analogue system, utilising mainly voice services like group calls and individual point-to-point calls. Airport communication is mission critical for the airport organisations and therefore extra care has to be taken during the migration phase. An additional source of uncertainty can be avoided by replacing in the first project phase only the services which are known to the users from their old system. After the users are accustomed to their new radios, the next project phases introduce new services and new applications. This is a natural evolution we see very often when an organisation starts using a digital radio system. (more…)

Automating ATM: “Stripless” earns its spurs

Issue 4 2006 / 1 December 2006 / Alain Rossier, Chief Executive Officer, skyguide

Skyguide, Switzerland’s air navigation service provider, has achieved tangible improvements in both working comfort and ATC capacity since it adopted its new “stripless” air traffic management system in December 2005. To date, experience of the new system has been highly positive; the controllers’ enthusiasm for their new work-tool is a powerful argument for automating this part of their tasks in order to help handle ever-increasing traffic volumes. (more…)

Leading on climate change

Issue 4 2006 / 1 December 2006 / Sir Richard Branson, Chairman, Virgin Atlantic

I am the first to admit that I am only a recent convert to the need to tackle climate change. I was inspired after meeting the former US Vice-President, Al Gore, who convinced me that I could play a part in convincing others that it was time for urgent change.

Why have I so strongly set out my green ambitions for the travel industry? Because, from the books I’ve read and the scientists I’ve met, I am certain that the world is heading for environmental catastrophe if we carry on as we are, relying on fossil fuels to improve our daily lives. Our children and grandchildren will never forgive us for doing nothing to stop climate change. (more…)

ATM training at Entry Point North

Issue 4 2006 / 1 December 2006 / Anne Kathrine Jensen, Managing Director, Entry Point North AB – Nordic ATS Academy

Entry Point North AB – Nordic ATS Academy – is the outcome of a constructive partnership between the Air Navigation Service Providers in Scandinavia: Avinor AS in Norway, LFV Group in Sweden and Naviair in Denmark. The academy was officially opened in March 2006 and welcomed the first students from the three Scandinavian countries. As of New Year, a wide range of new ATM training programmes will be offered to international Air Traffic Service Providers in accordance with the European ESARR 5 standard.

All in all, Entry Point North is a unique initiative within international Air Traffic Management. The new Academy is approved by the Civil Aviation Authorities in the three Scandinavian countries, so for the first time we have succeeded in establishing highly specialised training and education of Air Traffic Controllers across national borders.

It is our hope that Entry Point North AB will be seen as an initiative directly linked to the plans in Single European Sky and, as such, serve as an inspiration for other Air Navigation Service Providers in Europe. (more…)

Airports and aviation weather services: A new alliance forming?

Issue 4 2006 / 1 December 2006 / Dr. H. Puempel, Chief of Aeronautical Meteorology Unit, World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

Ever since the Wright Brothers, prior to the first motorised flight, worried about prevalent wind directions in 1904, aviation and weather have been twinned by fate and forced to work together. Aviators learned to respect weather from the day that they first attempted to fly; apart from human error, it still plays the biggest role when things go wrong.

When the great travelling public decides on the most appropriate form of transport to reach its intended destination, price is one consideration, but not the only one. Creature comfort, reliability in schedules, safety and absence of hassle play an increasingly dominant role when price wars in the entire transport world have led to a situation where cost has almost been marginalised for popular destinations. (more…)