Issue 4 2007

Helsinki-Vantaa Airport responds to the demand for gateway traffic

Issue 4 2007 / 31 July 2007 / Mr. Reijo Tasanen Director of Finavia’s Airports Department reijo.tasanen@finavia.fi

Finavia started to build an extension to the international terminal at Helsinki-Vantaa in 2006. The investment also includes the baggage handling systems for the entire terminal. This investment of roughly EUR 140 million, the largest in Finavia’s history, illustrates our strong commitment to a future built on Asian gateway traffic. Approximately one half of the investment will go towards the construction of the new baggage handling centre.

The Asian gateway traffic puts us in a good position compared with our neighbouring countries: there are as many as 50 direct flights leaving Helsinki-Vantaa per week to around ten destinations in Asia. For example, there are around 100 flights to China each month. The shortest route from Asia to Europe is via Helsinki-Vantaa Airport.

The other implication of the Far Eastern traffic is its impact on European traffic. Around 80 per cent of passengers from Finnair’s Asia services change planes at Helsinki-Vantaa. Therefore, the Far Eastern traffic also strengthens route traffic and the destination network in Europe. There are direct flight connections from Helsinki-Vantaa to over 40 destinations in Europe. (more…)

Reducing runway incursions

Issue 4 2007 / 31 July 2007 / Richard Taylor, Head of Air Traffic Standards, CAA

Those entrusted with the safety of our aviation industry, frequently draw up lists of the most likely causes of a major incident. Over the past few years, runway incursions have moved closer to the top of these lists. Regrettably, this is not a new issue – the world’s worst aviation accident, at Tenerife in 1977, involved a runway incursion.

The official ICAO definition of a runway incursion is “Any occurrence at an aerodrome involving the incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle or person on the protected area of a surface designated for the landing and take-off of aircraft.”

In the case of the Tenerife disaster, one aircraft began its take-off run while the other was turning onto the runway ahead of it. The visibility at the time was down to 300m in places. 583 people were killed.

Although serious runway incidents are very rare and accidents even rarer, runway incursions are today among the top target areas for aviation regulators. In an ideal world we would aim for a scenario where no aircraft or vehicle ever entered a runway without permission, or in error. (more…)

Dubai, the world’s aviation hub in the making

Issue 4 2007 / 31 July 2007 / His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum

Dubai is undergoing dynamic growth in all areas of its economy, which has long diversified away from the oil sector.

Today, the contribution of the oil sector to Dubai’s GDP is under five per cent, while the services sector, with an average annual growth rate of 21 per cent since 2000, has been the key driver of Dubai’s economic rise. In 2005, the service sector constituted 74 per cent of Dubai’s GDP.

Dubai’s strategic plan for 2015 lays specific emphasis on travel and tourism, trade and transportation and logistics, among others, as highly conducive sectors for future economic growth. Dubai’s investments in these sectors are in line with this greater plan. The value of investment in Dubai’s tourism, hospitality, leisure, entertainment and real estate projects over the next five to seven years is estimated to be around US $365 billion.

As a result of these developments, the number of visitors to Dubai, as well as the city’s resident population, will rise dramatically over the next few years. The rapid economic growth of the UAE, coupled with the emergence of Dubai as the busiest business and leisure hub of the region, calls for a radical expansion of its aviation infrastructure. Thus plans for Dubai’s logistics and aerospace sectors are very much grounded in realistic projections and well within its capabilities. (more…)

Firmly on Course

Issue 4 2007 / 31 July 2007 / Khalifa Mohammed Al Mazrouei, Chairman and Managing Director, Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC)

Redevelopment work at Abu Dhabi International Airport is progressing according to plan. A number of facilities are scheduled to go operational in the first half of 2008. These include a third passenger terminal, a second runway, a new state of the art air traffic control complex and the first phase of a free trade zone. The flagship facility, the Midfield Terminal, will come on stream by the end of 2010 and by then the Airport’s overall capacity will triple to 20 million passengers.

The ambitious USD $6.8 billion programme will allow for phased growth of passenger traffic to beyond 40 million per year from the current seven million, while cargo capacity will be boosted to 2.5 million tonnes per year. The programme, which aims at transforming ADIA into a world-class facility, is but one aspect of a fully-fledged Government strategy that will see the UAE capital Emirate evolve into an international business and tourism hub. (more…)

Doha International Airport

Issue 4 2007 / 31 July 2007 / Akbar Al Baker, CEO Doha International Airport

Doha International Airport has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past few years – particularly since 2005, with huge expansion to cope with the sharp rise in demand for air travel to, from and beyond Qatar.

The airport was built in the 1940s. Today, the facility caters for more than 10 million passengers annually, thanks largely to the rapid rise of national carrier Qatar Airways, which handles 80 per cent of the traffic. More than 10 million passengers are set to fly with Qatar Airways during the 12-month period ending 2007.

With unprecedented growth of the national airline, averaging 35 per cent year on year, the need to expand the existing airport has been a priority. Such expansion has seen passenger capacity increase to 4.2 million, 5.6 million and 8 million passengers per annum respectively in recent years.

Doha International Airport has seen more than US$300 million pumped into expanding the departures hall, arrivals area, transit lounge, duty free shopping, immigration and baggage claim areas, creating additional aircraft parking space and building a unique US$90 million passenger departures terminal dedicated to Qatar Airways’ first and business class passengers. (more…)

Bahrain International Airport: Then and now

Issue 4 2007 / 31 July 2007 / Capt. Abdulrahman Al Gaoud, Undersecretary for Civil Aviation Affairs, Kingdom of Bahrain

For centuries the Kingdom of Bahrain was the centre of pearling in the Arabian Gulf. For just as long it has been the focus of the ancient trade routes interfacing Europe and the Middle East with Persia, the sub continent, Africa and beyond.

In the 21st century nothing has changed much. Bahrain International Airport is one of the finest in the Gulf, with runways and facilities that can handle the largest aircraft in service, while the emerging potential at the Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Port and Hidd industrial area, offer spectacular opportunities to organisations and manufacturers aiming to exploit local and regional markets.

The King Fahd Causeway to Saudi Arabia provides unrivalled access to the excellent land routes that spread out across the Arabian Peninsula and in recent years Bahrain has become an ever more influential centre for banking and financial services, commanding increasing respect for its range of fiscal instruments and integrity.

With its agreeable climate, many leisure activities and modern public social infrastructure, Bahrain is also a highly attractive place to live and is truly a ‘gateway’ in every sense. (more…)

Bird strike prevention – SMS challenge and a green signal

Issue 4 2007 / 31 July 2007 / Luit Buurma, Honorary Chairman International Bird Strike Committee

Bird strike prevention is a splendid subject for the appreciation of an airport’s Safety Management System and even indicative for the maturity of its business plan. Airports are open systems by nature and by culture. Birds are free to migrate around the globe but are constrained in their possibilities to stopover at the airport and its periphery. Just as all other habitats, the airport landscape tends to have a settled bird population and access for newcomers is regulated by behavioural rules; just like landing airplanes when guided in by air traffic control. The capacities of ecosystems and airports provide keys for the management to control natural and human risk factors. Bird strikes may escalate dramatically where these two factors interfere unforeseen. Technologies to monitor and predict risks and to support decision making are developing fast. (more…)

Ground Handling: A global perspective

Issue 4 2007 / 31 July 2007 /

In this Q & A session we brought together three heads of ground handling from three very different regions, to see how their outlooks varied. (more…)

Passenger movements at Schiphol

Issue 4 2007 / 31 July 2007 / Joep Lievers, Director of Infrastructure, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

Richard Piper spoke to Joep Lievers, Director of Infrastructure, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, regarding the flow of passengers through the terminal building. (more…)

Denver International Airport: The December blizzard of ’06, a catalyst for change

Issue 4 2007 / 31 July 2007 / Turner W. West Co-Manager, Denver International Airport

On December 20, 2006, Denver International Airport faced a snowstorm that challenged every single aspect of the operation. The storm, now commonly referred to as the December Blizzard of ‘06, brought over 20 inches of snow, with wind gusts above 40 mph and white-out conditions to the Denver area.

These conditions eventually caused DEN to close for 45 hours during the worst possible time of year, the pre-Christmas rush. The lengthy airport closure cost the hub carriers at Denver millions of dollars, stranded nearly 5,000 passengers at the airport – ruining holiday plans for many – and sent ripple effects through the airspace system that took several days to level out. Afterwards, DEN senior management, including the newly hired directors of Airport Operations and Airport Maintenance, John Kinney and Ruth Rodriguez, closely examined every aspect of the events before, during and after the storm to find areas that could be improved upon, as well as to identify future challenges. In the end, the December Blizzard has proven to be a catalyst for DEN to reinvent its winter operations program. (more…)