Airport World, Issue 2, 2017

In the spotlight: Sustainability Airport report: Los Angeles International Airport Special report: Airport Economics & Finance Conference Plus: Airport uniforms & vehicle security

Sustainability: Aviation’s licence to grow April-May 2017 Volume 22 Issue 2 www.aci.aero

OPINION ;OL THNHaPUL VM [OL (PYWVY[Z *V\UJPS 0U[LYUH[PVUHS

Airport World Editor Joe Bates +44 (0)1276 476582 joe@airport-world.com Design, Layout & Production Mark Draper +44 (0)208 707 2743 mark@airport-world.com Sales Director Jonathan Lee +44 (0)208 707 2743 jonathan@airport-world.com Sales Manager Ellis Owen +44 (0)208 274 1540 ellis@airport-world.com Advertising Manager Andrew Hazell +44 (0)208 384 0206 andrewh@airport-world.com Subscriptions subscriptions@aviationmedia.aero Managing Director Jonathan Lee +44 (0)208 707 2743 jonathan@aviationmedia.aero Published by Aviation Media Ltd PO BOX 448, Feltham, TW13 9EA, UK

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Green thinking Airport World editor, Joe Bates, reflects on the sustainability challenges facing the world’s gateways and the importance of communicating aviation’s good environmental record.

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n increasingly uncertain times due to ongoing geopolitical events across the world, one thing that airports can be sure of is that sustainability will be key to determining their long-term futures.

With global passenger numbers set to double by 2030 and the race already on to ensure that there is enough airport capacity to meet future demand, arguably, being seen to be ‘green’ has never been more important than today.

Hundreds of new airports will be needed across the globe by then – China alone has announced plans to build 136 new gateways by 2025 and India plans to double its airport capacity by 2019 – while existing airports, where possible, will have to be upgraded and expanded.

Yet in many parts of the world, particularly in Europe, despite being key economic generators it already feels like airports have to justify their very existence on an almost daily basis because of aviation’s perceived adverse impact on the environment.

In response, airports are increasingly having to show that they can operate, develop and grow in a sustainable way.

This, of course, means building more environmentally friendly infrastructure, improving operational efficiencies and adopting best practice for a variety of processes and procedures.

In my opinion, sustainabilty covers everything from ‘green’ design and the need to build strong relationships with local communities to the quest to reduce emissions, mitigate noise and introduce renewable energy solutions.

All are important, but perhaps the most underestimated of these is the need for airports to communicate and actively engage with local communities, because winning the hearts and minds of people will, ultimately, decide their futures and licence to grow.

This dialogue/interaction must be constant and consistent to ensure the continued backing

of supporters and possibly win over others who don’t have such a favourable opinion of the airport.

And airports must use every means at their disposal to get messages across. Long gone are the days when an airport could largely ignore public opinion about their development projects save for the occasional letter drop or meeting at the town hall.

In today’s world, backing has to be earned, and what better place to spread the word, and positive messages about a capital development plan or an environmental initiative, than on websites or through social media?

In fairness, most airports do now use social media, and some are even quite expert at it, but more clearly needs to be done to get the environmental message across, because in spite of everything airports have done and continue to do to reduce their impact on the environment, aviation is still viewed negatively in the eyes of many.

We endeavour to set the record straight in this ‘sustainability’ themed issue, which includes a feature from the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) outlining why airports are perfectly placed to become sustainability leaders and role models for the communities they serve.

We also hear from ACI World’s Juliana Scavuzzi who reports on the pioneering energy conservation efforts of airports, while ACI Europe’s Marina Bylinsky provides an update on ACI’s Airport Carbon Accreditation programme.

There are also themed articles on Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport’s plans to be a good neighbour; Galapagos Ecological Airport; and the importance of planning for sustainability.

Elsewhere in this issue we provide a comprehensive report on the recent Airport Economics & Finance Conference and Exhibition and look at vehicle security and airport uniforms. LAX is the airport in the spotlight.

I hope you find it a good read!

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CONTENTS

In this issue Issue 2 Volume 22

3 Opinion Airport World editor, Joe Bates, reflects on the sustainability challenges facing the world’s gateways and the importance of communicating aviation’s good environmental record.

8 Money matters Joe Bates looks back at some of the highlights of the ninth annual Airport Economics & Finance Conference and Exhibition in London.

14 ACI news Traffic at the world’s 20 busiest passenger hubs grew 4.7% in 2016 as they handled 1.4 billion passengers between them.

17 View from the top ACI World director general, Angela Gittens, reflects on the importance of sustainable airport growth in the United Nations International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.

18 LA story Los Angeles World Airports executive director, Deborah Flint, talks to Joe Bates about the multi-billion dollar redevelopment of LAX and her hopes that the new US government will back the nation’s airport system.

22 Leading the way Airports are perfectly placed to become sustainability leaders and role models for the communities they serve, writes Air Transport Action Group’s Haldane Dodd.

25 Energy efficiency

ACI World’s aviation environmental specialist, Juliana Scavuzzi, considers energy efficiency at airports.

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CONTENTS

Director General Angela Gittens Chair Declan Collier (London, UK) Vice Chair Bongani Maseko (Johannesburg, South Africa) Immediate Past Chair Fredrick J Piccolo (Sarasota, USA)

27 Planning for sustainability Embracing sustainable development will help ensure the long-term futures of airports across the globe, writes Landrum & Brown’s managing consultant, Sara Christen-Hassert.

31 On the waterfront Gene Cabral, executive vice president of PortsToronto, owner and operator of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, reflects on the importance of being a good neighbour to ensure the gateway’s licence to grow.

33 Global mission ACI’s Airport Carbon Accreditation programme is helping combat the impact of climate change by reducing CO2 emissions on the ground, writes Marina Bylinsky.

35 Best in class Joe Bates takes a closer look at the development of arguably the world’s “greenest” gateway, Seymour Airport, in the remote Galapagos Islands.

37 What lies beneath Is it time for the introduction of new technology to check the underside of vehicles at security checkpoints at airports? Colin Williams considers the options.

39 Dressed for success Uniforms can help create a competitive edge by showcasing a brand and boosting customer service levels by making staff easier to identify, writes Simon Jersey’s Paul Farrell.

40 ACI’s World Business Partners The latest news from ACI’s World Business Partners.

42 People matters Dr Richard Plenty and Terri Morrissey reflect on the importance of evidence in people issues.

Treasurer Arnaud Feist (Brussels, Belgium) ACI WORLD GOVERNING BOARD DIRECTORS Africa (2) Saleh Dunoma (Lagos, Nigeria) Bongani Maseko (Johannesburg, South Africa) Asia-Pacific (9) Sheikh Aiman Al-Hosni (Muscat, Oman) Kjeld Binger (Amman, Jordan) Kenichi Fukaya (Tokyo, Japan) Fred Lam (Hong Kong) Seow Hiang Lee (Singapore) Xue Song Liu, (Beijing, China) Kerrie Mather (Sydney, Australia) Emmanuel Menanteau (Phnom Penh, Cambodia) PS Nair (Delhi, India) Europe (7) Daniel Burkard (Moscow, Russia) Declan Collier (London, UK) Elena Mayoral Corcuera (Madrid, Spain) Arnaud Feist (Brussels, Belgium) Jos Nijhuis (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) Augustin de Romanet (Paris, France) Sani Şener (Istanbul, Turkey) Latin America & Caribbean (3) Ezequiel Barrenechea (Lima, Peru) Martin Eurnekian (Buenos Aires, Argentina) Andrew O’Brian (Quito, Ecuador) North America (7) Lew Bleiweis (Asheville, USA) Joyce Carter (Halifax, Canda) Howard Eng (Toronto, Canada) Deborah Flint (Los Angeles, USA) Joe Lopano (Tampa, USA) Tom Ruth (Edmonton, Canada) William Vanecek (Buffalo, USA) Regional Advisers to the World Governing Board (9) Zouhair Mohamed El Aoufir (Rabat, Morocco) Michael Kerkloh (Munich, Germany) Pascal Komla (Lomé, Togo) Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad Abdul Majid (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) Candace McGraw (Cincinnati, USA) Joseph Napoli (Miami, USA) Hector Navarrete Muñoz (Merida, Mexico) Brian Ryks (Minneapolis-St Paul, USA) Stefan Schulte (Frankfurt, Germany) Observer World Business Partner Observer Tunde Oyekola (El-Mansur Atelier Group) Correct as of May 2017

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EVENTS: AIRPORT ECONOMICS & FINANCE CONFERENCE

Money matters Joe Bates looks back at some of the highlights of the ninth annual Airport Economics & Finance Conference and Exhibition in London.

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raditionally ACI’s first global event of the year, the Airport Economics & Finance Conference and Exhibition once again proved a big hit with all those in attendance, this year’s event attracting 240 delegates from 120 different companies in 40 countries across the globe.

ACI World’s director general, Angela Gittens, used her opening address to look at the provisional 2016 traffic results for the world’s airports, reflect on last year’s key performance indicators and discuss a new Policy Brief on airport ownership, economic regulation and financial performance.

She revealed that despite the uncertainty hanging over the global economy, in 2016 airports enjoyed their busiest year ever for passenger traffic, and worldwide airport revenues increased by 6% to $151.8 billion.

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The capital intensive nature of airports, however, means that rising revenues doesn’t necessarily equate to a profit, with Gittens quick to point out that profitability continues to elude most airports handling less than one million passengers per annum.

“Size remains the main contributing factor whether airports are profitable or not,” she remarked. “High fixed costs for infrastructure ensure that airports which serve fewer than one million passengers per year show a negative return on invested capital of 1.7%.”

Future investment Talking about the need to invest in future facilities in a far from certain market, she stated: “Airport operators are often placed in a position where they must engage in a high-wire balancing act.

“On the one hand they are faced with stringent regulations governing their aeronautical revenues and in certain cases must finance small or loss making airports in their network.

“On the other hand they must expand their infrastructure capacity to meet growing demand for air transport. Economists often coin the phrase, there is no such thing as a free lunch, and the fact remains that someone or some entity must pay for the use of the infrastructure.”

And according to ACI statistics that burden is increasingly falling to passengers as opposed to the airlines due to rising passenger related fees across the globe.

With ACI forecasts predicting a 33% growth in passenger volumes between 2015 and 2020, she reiterated previous warnings that for many countries this might mean air transport demand outstripping airport infrastructure.

EVENTS: AIRPORT ECONOMICS & FINANCE CONFERENCE

New Policy Brief She pointed out that inline with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 9 (SDG9) to “build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation”, ACI has released a new policy brief on airport ownership, economic regulation and financial performance that it hopes will help attract investment in the industry.

“The Brief emphasises the need for flexibility and consistency in regulatory frameworks that govern airport revenues and capital investments,” said Gittens.

Talking about the types of airport ownership, she added: “Airports no longer operate as homogenous groups or public utilities but exhibit a range of ownership structures ranging from fully government owned and operated to partially or fully privatised.

“They compete with each other to be the gateways to cities, regions and even entire continents. In 2016 there were as many 614 airports with some form of private sector involvement on a large scale.

“There is no one-size fits all when it comes to airport ownership and ACI does not prescribe a specific ownership model, per se. Global, political, social and economic circumstances dictate the appropriate type of ownership and the participation of private capital.”

He noted that breaking the two billion milestone meant that Europe’s airports have handled 300 million more passengers since 2013 years, with the lion’s share of the additional travellers using EU airports, reflecting the recent trend of EU gateways (+6.7% in 2016) outperforming their counterparts in non-EU countries (-0.9% in 2016).

Mid-size airports handing 5-10 million passengers (+10.3%) fared best in 2016, Jankovec revealing that the “low-cost dynamic proved significant” for this group of gateways that is largely made up of secondary hubs or large regional airports.

He told delegates that the outlook for 2017 looks good, even admitting to be being surprised by just how well Europe’s airports have performed in the opening months of the year, but pondered whether performance levels were “at the top of the cycle” due to the upturn in the global economy that had led to a huge increase in airline seat capacity across the continent.

“How long can we continue growing like this?” asked Jankovec.

“There is a lot of capacity in the market and airline yields are suffering.

Airline costs are also starting to be affected by exchange rates.

“We are also seeing an increase and change in risks, in particular geopolitical risks with our neighbours, and also challenges within Europe, such as Brexit, and new political priorities in other parts of the world. The risk of terrorism also remains.”

Traffic boom in Europe ACI Europe’s director general, Olivier Jankovec, delivered a largely positive presentation about the performance of the continent’s airports, which handled over two billion passengers (+5%) for the first time in 2016, although he did end on a note of caution about the potential negative impact of Brexit.

Brexit fears Talking about Brexit, he said: “Brexit is crucial for us because it challenges the EU Single Aviation Market, which is based on the freedom to fly and has been a success story that has delivered tremendous connectivity for Europe.

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EVENTS: AIRPORT ECONOMICS & FINANCE CONFERENCE

“It is, however, not just about the ability to fly between the UK and the EU as the Single Aviation Market has expanded beyond Europe to other European countries, northern Africa, the Middle East, Canada and the US. As we speak the EU is also in talks with ASEAN countries, Turkey and Qatar, so the stakes are very high.

“Aviation provides nearly nine million jobs in Europe and is responsible for 4.1% of the EU’s GDP. So what’s at stake is our ability to ensure that aviation can continue to be the continent’s engine for economic growth.

“The worst-case scenario is that the UK leaves the EU in two years having failed to agree its exit terms and nobody knows what is going to happen next.”

Future bright in Asia-Pacific ACI Asia-Pacific’s regional director, Patti Chau, talked about some of the key trends behind the region’s soaring traffic figures in 2016, and revealed that the two dominant players in the Asia-Pacific market, China and India, enjoyed very different growth paths in the past year.

China’s traffic upturn was primarily driven by an in increase in international passenger numbers while India was boosted by domestic growth, which led to most major gateways experiencing double-digit rises in passengers.

Low-cost carriers continued to flourish across the entire region in 2016, said Chau, accounting for 31% of all passengers, and the number of low-cost, long-haul operations is also on the rise.

She also took the opportunity to remind delegates that ACI’s Asia-Pacific region leads the way in terms of airport infrastructure projects, stating that China alone intends to build 136 new airports by 2025 and India plans to double its airport capacity by 2019.

“Most the of new Chinese airports are relatively small facilities being built to improve connectivity to secondary cities, but it does include the opening of Daxing Airport in Beijing in 2019, which once fully open will have the capacity to handle 100 million passengers yearly,” said Chau.

She also noted that the private sector is becoming increasingly involved in the operation and development of airports across Asia-Pacific.

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Interactive polling with The World Bank Next up was The World Bank’s irrespressible lead air transport specialist, Dr Charles Schlumberger, with his annual delegate survey.

The previous day he had chaired the now annual one-day ACI-World Bank Aviation Symposium, which took an in depth look at Public Private Partnerships (PPP) projects from all fronts.

LCC phenomenon and dedicated facilities The opening morning ended with an interesting and lively debate about ‘Aviation competition dynamics and their impact on airports’ that involved airport CEOs Paul Kehoe (Birmingham), Michael Kerkloh (Munich) and Sheikh Aimen bin Ahmed Al Hosni from Oman Airports Management Company (OAMC).

Talking about the presence of low-cost carriers at German hubs being the new reality, Munich’s Kerkloh said: “We already have Eurowings growing fast and Ryanair is now at Frankfurt and has announced plans to base 20 aircraft there within one year,” he said.

“The LCCs want to operate at hubs because the earning potential is much higher than flying from nowhere to nowhere. Michael O’Leary has stated that he wants Ryanair to become the feeder carrier for Lufthansa.

I am not sure if it will be Ryanair, but this will happen in a few years.”

OAMC’s Al Hosni revealed that Oman’s first LCC, SalamAir, and existing budget airlines that include Air Arabia, flydubai and IndiGo will continue to use the existing passenger terminal at Muscat International Airport, which will become a dedicated LCC facility, when the gateway’s new terminal opens later this year.

He said SalamAir had got off to a very good start, enjoying 70% load factors on its routes to Dubai World Central-Al Maktoum in the UAE and Salalah in Oman. LCCs currently account for 27% of the traffic in Muscat.

Always entertaining and pragmatic, Birmingham’s Kehoe warned of the dangers of building a terminal for one particular airline or type of traffic, citing his gateway’s experience of building a terminal for British Airways a decade ago.

EVENTS: AIRPORT ECONOMICS & FINANCE CONFERENCE

had no Plan B when, in June 2007, British Airways decided to consolidate all their operations at Heathrow.

“So, we were left with a terminal built for British Airways, operated by British Airways but no British Airways! We also had no LCCs and the challenge faced by the airport was how to get the low-cost carriers in with a cost structure built around British Airways and other legacy carriers.”

Also on the panel was Brussels Airport’s head of aviation marketing, Léon Verhallen, and professor emeritus of aviation at the University of Amsterdam, Jaap de Wit.

Africa, regulation and Brexit

Kehoe, who was managing director of London Luton Airport when the complex was built, said: “Had I been here at the time, I would have lauded British Airways who were a major player at the airport.

“We [Birmingham] had a terminal built for them by them, which we called Eurohub, and as a result of this strategy, the management team decided not to pursue any low-cost airlines.

“They did dabble with MyTravelLite, bmibaby and Maersk Air, but British Airways was the God that must be obeyed. Because of that we

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Day one ended with Nick Fadugba, CEO of African Aviation Services providing an overview on ‘Three hurdles to liberalisation in Africa’; a group discussion about ‘New Thinking and Innovation in Regulation’; and an eagerly awaited session titled ‘The Brexit conversation’.

ACI World’s director of economics, Stefano Baronci, chaired the regulation panel, which comprised CEO of the CAA in the UK, Andrew Haines; Heathrow’s chief economist, Jonathan Sandbach; daa’s head of planning, Simon Fagan; and ASUR’s manager of project development for regional airports, David Scholz Moreno.

In answer to the question whether to regulate or not, the CAA’s Haines called the need for regulation “a necessary evil in certain circumstances, but a poor second to effective competition.”

While Baronci noted: “I think one of the fundamental questions for a regulator is how do you ensure that any regulation is proportionate to the needs of the market?”

Probably enough has been said about the potential impact of Brexit to aviation already in this article, so I will just briefly say that the

EVENTS: AIRPORT ECONOMICS & FINANCE CONFERENCE

discussion involving Edinburgh Airport CEO, Gordon Dewar; IFC International’s vice president, Kata Cserep; ETRC’s vice president Frank O’Connell; Frontier Economics’ director, Dan Elliott; and industry veteran Rigas Doganis, raised more questions than answers.

Responding to whether she feared air traffic decimation after Brexit, IFC International’s Cserep said: “I think that this is fairly unlikely, and taking the long-term view from an investor or operator perspective, and looking back at the last 20 years, uncertainty and shocks are certainly nothing new.

“While there certainly might be a period of delayed growth or even a decline, and I expect some airports to suffer quite significantly depending on the outcome of all of this, I have to remain relatively optimistic that this is a very resilient market.”

Edinburgh’s Dewar stated: “Aviation touches so many other businesses, tourism, being just one of them, that we really don’t want to mess things up. We need this to be front and foremost in politicians minds when they are at the negotiating table.”

Investing in airports Day two was all about reaping the economic and social benefits of investing in airports and how flexible business strategies are required to negotiate turbulence and ultimately succeed in an ever evolving industry.

In the session about the true value of airport investment, Michael McGhee, partner at Global Infrastructure Partners, believed that getting the right traffic volume, mix and spread throughout the day and the seasons was key to success as it was a way of getting airport unit costs down to the benefit of the airlines.

He added that to be successful airports also had to have “permission to grow” from the government, invest in operating solutions as well as capital ones, and “deliver the right service, the right facilities at the right price, and predictable costs, to customers”.

While IATA’s chief economist, Brian Pearce, stated that airlines still felt that they weren’t consulted enough on big investment decisions.

The panel also included Airport Authority Hong Kong’s William Lo; CCR USA’s Amit Rikhy; Aeroporti di Roma’s Marco Troncone – who talked about ADR’s €12 billion investment plan for Rome Fiumicino – and Kempegowda International Airport’s Bhaskar Bodapati.

Speaking about overcoming adversity in the final session of the conference, TAV Airport’s director of marketing, Aslihan Cortuk, revealed that although passenger numbers decreased by only 2% at Istanbul Atatürk in 2016, the terrorist attack at the airport and failed political coup massively affected the traffic mix with international O&D numbers declining by around 20%.

As Atatürk’s main source of revenue, this decline hit TAV hard, admitted Cortuk, who noted that Turkish Airlines grounded 36 of its aircraft this winter, which corresponds to about 10% of its fleet capacity.

Experience told her that it would take the market two to two-and-ahalf years to recover from last year’s events. TAV’s diversified business interests that include 14 other airports across Europe and the Middle East, a construction arm and other subsidiaries would help navigate the company through the current choppy financial waters, she said.

Former ACI World chairman and CEO of Athens International Airport, Dr Yiannis Paraschis, said he believed that risk was part of the DNA of his airport, which had only been open a few months before 9/11 happened and it has since lived through the collapse of Olympic Airways and the Greek sovereign debt crisis. Each event required a different response, recovery strategy and business plan, he told delegates.

They were joined on the final panel by Airports of Ukraine’s board member, Yevgen Treskunov, and Fitch Ratings’ director of global AW infrastructure and project finance, Julian Dupont.

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ACI WORLDHEAD NEWS RUNNING

World in motion Traffic at the world’s 20 busiest passenger hubs grew 4.7% in 2016 as they handled 1.4 billion passengers between them.

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CI’s preliminary traffic results for 2016 reveal that the world’s 20 busiest passenger airports – led by Atlanta-HartsfieldJackson (ATL) which handled over 104 million passengers (+2.6%) – accounted for 18% of the global passenger traffic

last year.

Beijing Capital (PEK) and Dubai (DXB) cemented their status as the second and third busiest airports on the planet, handling 94 million (+5%) and 83.6 million (+7.2%) respectively in 2016.

DXB is also the world’s busiest in terms of international passengers ahead of London-Heathrow (LHR).

The burgeoning Pacific market Los Angeles (LAX) moved from seventh to fourth busiest, solidifying its position as one of the fastest growing hubs in 2016. A strengthened American economy and competitive airfares fuelled air transport demand during a record-breaking travel season.

Asian airlines continued to make important inroads in the North American market on key international and trans-Pacific segments across airport pairs, particularly between North America and China.

One of the major Chinese airports serving the trans-Pacific routes and other international routes includes Shanghai Pudong (PVG), which saw passenger numbers exceed 66 million (+9.8%) in 2016.

East Asia Seoul’s Incheon International Airport (ICN) experienced double-digit year-on-year passenger growth of 17.1% in 2016. The continued growth of low cost carriers on key segments and the start of A380 flight operations of long-haul routes have paved the way for significant traffic expansion.

A key contributor to traffic growth also relates to the consolidating demand of Korean and Japanese international routes. This boosted growth at ICN and other Korean airports. Tokyo Haneda (HND), the world’s fifth busiest airport and Japan’s largest, experienced a 5.5% upturn in passenger traffic during the year.

Finally, there are two airports outside the top 20 that are growing fast: Delhi (DEL) and Doha (DOH), the world’s 21st and 50th busiest airports. Both achieved growth of over 20% in a single year, although they each have distinct traffic composition.

While almost three quarters of DEL’s traffic is domestic, DOH is a rapidly growing hub in the Middle East with almost all of its traffic reported as international.

The dynamic between Indian aviation, which is poised to be one of the largest aviation markets over the long-term, and the Middle Eastern hubs as major points of connectivity will be important in the years to come.

Air cargo Air cargo markets experienced a revival in the second half of 2016. Despite the looming uncertainty regarding trade policies in the face of protectionist sentiments, heightened business confidence through inventory build-ups and increased export orders remained apparent for the short-term.

The world’s largest air cargo hub continued to be Hong Kong (HKG), Memphis (MEM), Shanghai Pudong (PVG) and Doha (DOH), which experienced upturns of 3.5%, 0.7% and 5% respectively DOH moved up from 20th to 16th in the rankings with a jump of 20.8% in air cargo volumes in 2016. Between them the world’s busiest cargo airports accommodated around 44% of the world’s air cargo volumes last year.

Aircraft movements Other key markets Amsterdam-Schiphol (AMS), a major European hub, grew 9.2% in 2016. While AMS gained traffic due to the substitution effect from terrorism activity at sister hubs, the airport remained strategically located in a competitive market for connections on continental and intercontinental traffic.

Denver (DEN) also continued to increase traffic at a rate well above that which would have been expected from the mature North American market. Owing its growth to strong demand on origin and destination flights, the gateway to the American Rockies, grew almost 8% in 2016.

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ATL (+1.8%) is the world’s busiest airport for aircraft movements, ahead of Chicago-O’Hare (ORD) which experienced a decline of -0.9% and LAX, which experienced an increase of 6.3%.

Both AMS and PVG moved up the ranks, posting growth rates of 6.6% and 6.8% respectively. The top 20 airports achieved year-on-year growth of 1.8%.

“The aviation industry is constantly changing, adapting and innovating,” said Angela Gittens, ACI World’s director general. “Global aviation markets remain dynamic in the face of economic uncertainty and geopolitical risks that persist on many fronts.”

ACI WORLD NEWS

ACI events

2017

2017

2017

2017

2017

September 17-20

November 7-9

June 12-14

October 14-18

October 25-27

ACI-NA Annual Conference & Exhibition Fort Worth, USA

ACI-LAC Annual Assembly, Conference & Exhibition San Jose, Costa Rica

ACI Europe General Assembly, Congress & Exhibition Paris, France

ACI Africa/ACI World Annual General Assembly, Conference & Exhibition Port Louis, Mauritius

Trinity Forum Bangkok, Thailand

ACI offices ACI World Angela Gittens Director General PO Box 302 800 Rue du Square Victoria Montréal, Quebec H4Z 1G8 Canada Tel: +1 514 373 1200 Fax: +1 514 373 1201 aci@aci.aero www.aci.aero

ACI Fund for Developing Nations’ Airports Angela Gittens Managing Director Tel: + 1 514 373 1200 Fax: +1 514 373 1201 acifund@aci.aero

ACI Africa Ali Tounsi Secretary General Casablanca, Morocco Tel: +212 660 156 916 atounsi@aci-africa.aero www.aci-africa.aero

ACI Latin America & Caribbean Javier Martinez Botacio Director General Panama City, Panama Tel: +507 830 5657/58 jmartinez@aci-lac.aero www.aci-lac.aero

ACI Asia-Pacific Patti Chau Regional Director Hong Kong SAR, China Tel: +852 2180 9449 Fax: +852 2180 9462 info@aci-asiapac.aero www.aci-asiapac.aero

ACI Europe Olivier Jankovec Director General Brussels, Belgium Tel: +32 (2) 552 0978 Fax: +32 (2) 502 5637 danielle.michel@aci-europe.org www.aci-europe.org

ACI North America Kevin Burke President & CEO Washington DC, USA Tel: +1 202 293 8500 Fax: +1 202 331 1362 postmaster@aci-na.org www.aci-na.org

Airports Council International (ACI), the trade association of the world’s airports, was founded in 1991 with the objective of fostering cooperation among its member airports and other partners in world aviation, including the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Air Transport Association and the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation. In representing the best interests of airports during key phases of policy development, ACI makes a significant contribution toward ensuring a global air transport system that is safe, secure, efficient and environmentally sustainable.

As of January 2017, ACI serves 623 members operating 1,940 airports in 176 countries.

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View from the top

ACI VIEWPOINT

ACI World director general, Angela Gittens, reflects on the importance of sustainable airport growth in the United Nations International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.

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s we celebrate the United Nations’ (UN) International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development, it is timely to discuss how airports should always be considered within a wider context that connects them to other industries as engines for the local economies and communities we serve.

Nowhere is this connection more direct than the tourism industry. ACI’s preliminary data indicates that global passenger traffic grew 5.5% in 2016, with total worldwide traffic nearing 7.6 billion passengers.

International tourism in particular continued to be irrepressible, even considering the spectre of economic uncertainty that permeated the global economy and the aviation sector throughout the year.

According to the latest UN World Tourism Organization’s World Tourism Barometer, demand for international tourism remained robust in 2016, growing 3.9% to reach a total of over 1.200 billion tourists, some 46 million more than in 2015.

Travel and tourism allow wealth to be injected into communities in a variety of ways, from direct, indirect and induced jobs, increased economic activity and economic diversification. The World Travel and Tourism Council, of which ACI is a member, reported that travel and tourism represents 10% of the world’s GDP, supports 1 in 11 jobs and accounts for 6% of global exports.

Airports as key enablers of travel and tourism, directly contribute to sustainable economic growth, employment and poverty reduction.

According to the Air Transport Action Group, 2014 saw the air transport industry generate an estimated 9.9 million direct jobs worldwide, or $664.4 billion of the world’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP).

The airport sector specifically accounted for 5.95 million of those jobs, accounting for $398.6 billion in GDP, with airport operators employing 450,000 positions, accounting for $30.2 billion in GDP. But for airports and tourism to continue being interdependent generators of value, investment in the sustainable development of airports is vital.

Both sectors need to keep up their infrastructure, exercise environmental stewardship and maintain community engagement.

These areas are directly pertinent to the goals of sustainable tourism development: economic growth; employment and poverty reduction; resource efficiency, environmental protection and climate change, among others.

Resilient infrastructure is the bedrock for the sustainable development of modern economies. In many parts of the world, airport operators face capacity constraints, which have resulted in bottlenecks and flight delays.

Airports also play their part in environmental protection and mitigation of climate change – essential to supporting sustainable tourism.

The Airport Carbon Accreditation programme, which has just completed its seventh year, now includes 182 accredited airports in 54 countries around the world. Under the programme, more than 200,000 tonnes of CO2 were reduced in the year ending June 2016, enough to power over 86,000 households.

Initiated by ACI Europe, Airport Carbon Accreditation is now recognised in every Region of the world. Furthermore, ACI’s Airport Carbon Emissions Reporting Tool (ACERT) version 4.0, which is a valuable tool in assisting airports in managing their GHG emissions, also helps them progress toward accreditation.

Although climate change is globally the most pressing environmental problem the world shares, other environmental concerns are particularly imperative for airports to address, noise, local air and water quality chief among them.

The ICAO Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP) is a key focus of ACI’s activity as it covers a wide range of measures on environmental protection germane to aviation.

Most recently, it agreed a new standard of CO2 for aircraft, and has committed to developing guidance on community engagement.

ACI will make sure that CAEP and the international civil aviation authorities understand the importance of well structured, and constructive community engagement.

Airports recognise that they are members of the communities in which they operate and need permission to exist and to grow if necessary to accommodate the demand for air service.

ACI will continue to work in partnership with governments, regulators and other aviation stakeholders to ensure that we do our part in supporting sustainable tourism this year and in the years to come.

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LA story Los Angeles World Airports executive director, Deborah Flint, talks to Joe Bates about the multi-billion dollar redevelopment of LAX and her hopes that the new US government will back the nation’s airport system.

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n iconic airport in an iconic city, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is now officially the fourth busiest gateway on the planet after handling 80.9 million in 2016.

The 8% upturn on 2015 means that LAX handled 18.5 million passengers more last year than it did in 2007, and the timeless popularity of Los Angeles and the Californian dream ensures that these numbers will continue to rise in the decades ahead no matter what life has in store for the aviation industry.

What this means is that like a Hollywood film star seeking longevity, LAX will have to continue to adapt to changing times in order to maintain its appeal and have the capacity to meet future demand.

Luckily, its reinvention started a few years ago with the 2013 opening of the showpiece Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT) and, in true box office style, the new infrastructure keeps coming.

Over the last two years in collaboration with its airline partners and retail/F&B concessions operator Westfield, Terminal 2, 5 and 6 have been upgraded or redesigned and TBIT and Terminal 4 finally linked by a new connector building.

Next up is a new $1.6 billion Midfield Satellite Concourse (MSC) – effectively a 750,000 square foot extension to TBIT – and ongoing

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upgrades in Terminal 1 and Terminal 7, in addition to planned airfield enhancements and a separate $5.5 billion project to improve landside access.

The latter project officially known as the Landside Access Modernization Program (LAMP) will result in the building of the world’s largest Consolidated Rent-A-Car (CONRAC) facility and a new 2.25-mile Automated People Mover system designed to help relieve congestion in the Central Terminal Area.

Its list of achievements and planned projects means that nobody could really accuse LAX of failing to realise that it has to act now in order to raise its operational efficiency and customer service levels as well as its capacity to ensure that it is equipped to meet future demand.

Indeed, more than $3 million a day is currently being spent on nearly 50 different projects at LAX as part of the continuing work on its $14 billion modernisation programme.

“We are creating an experience that makes a great first and last impression of Los Angeles,” enthuses Los Angeles World Airport’s executive director, Deborah Flint. “Our focus is on delivering a gold-standard airport that shines with the top-rated airports around the world.”

AIRPORT REPORT: LOS ANGELES

Midfield Satellite Concourse

Traffic forecast and route development

Connected to TBIT by a 1,000ft underground pedestrian tunnel with moving walkways, the five-level MSC will provide the nation’s second busiest airport with 12 new gates that are expected to reduce LAX’s current reliance on remote gates on the west side of the airfield, which lack passenger services, concessions and other amenities.

Complementing the architecture of TBIT, the new concourse will feature a roof emulating an ocean wave prior to breaking on the shore.

Its interior will include 44,000 square feet of ‘LA-centric’ food-andbeverage and retail offerings, along with 60,000 square feet of airline club space between the concourse and TBIT Gateway.

And according to LAWA, the new building design allows for current and future technology enhancements, making it one of the smartest concourses in the world for passengers.

Flight information displays will include scanners that allow passengers to receive personalised maps on their boarding passes, for example. The MSC will also have automated boarding gates that make use of biometrics and beacon technology.

The environment has not been forgotten either as the new concourse is being designed with sustainability in mind, with LAWA’s stated intention to achieve LEED Silver and CAL Green Tier 1 certifications.

LAWA says its sustainable feature will include using daylight wherever possible, energy and water conservation, reducing heat generated by building roofs and pavement and using recycled materials.

Flint promises: “The Midfield Satellite Concourse will be built with sustainability principles and architectural features that reflect Los Angeles with great views and natural daylight.

“It will greatly enhance the guest experience at LAX and provide them with a new concourse ready for the technology enhancements of tomorrow.”

With traffic already well over 4% up on this time last year, LAX is currently on target to handle in excess of 83 million passengers in 2017.

And with the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) predicting that LAX could see 100 million passengers annually by 2040, the need for new infrastructure and state-of-the-art IT systems to make passenger processing faster, more efficient and customer friendly is obvious.

A total of 68 airlines serve LAX today operating non-stop services to 91 domestic and 78 international destinations across the globe. They will be joined by two more international carriers this summer.

Flint notes that the current growth is being driven by the strength of the LA market due to business, tourism and the diversity of people in Los Angeles. New international carriers, additional frequencies and new routes have fuelled international traffic growth, which has witnessed a 20% rise in widebody departures over the past two years.

She says that she is quietly satisfied with LAX’s route network, but admits that new routes to Asia and Southeast Asia are on her wish list. “I see future opportunities to connect LA to many more destinations around the world that are still unserved,” notes Flint.

IT innovation Such is the importance that LAX places on IT that Flint recently appointed Justin Erbacci as LAWA’s first ever chief innovation and technology officer.

Erbacci, a deputy executive director, will be responsible for LAWA’s overall information technology vision, strategies and operations and as such will focus on identifying and implementing innovative

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Deborah Flint with Los Angeles Mayor, Eric Garcetti (centre), and co-CEO of Westfield, Peter Lowy, at the unveiling of LAX’s new-look Terminal 2.

technologies and processes to change the airport environment and improve the airport guest experience.

Does his appointment mean that the airport expects IT to play an even greater role in boosting LAX’s capacity and enhancing the passenger journey and their ‘airport experience’ in the future?

Flint tells Airport World: “Information technology plays a critical and an integral role to all airport functions from security and safety, airfield and landside operations to how we innovate and communicate with our business partners and community stakeholders, as well as how our guests experience our airports.

“Justin will develop a new vision and execute new strategies to address the ever-growing demand for the latest in technological innovations, as well as with the implementation of the $5.5-billion LAX Landside Access Modernization Program. With his expertise we will be a digital ready airport across the board.”

Customer service How important does LAWA take customer service? “It is one of our top priorities,” says Flint, noting that the retail and F&B offerings in LAX’s terminals have been transformed in the last few years.

“We are making significant investments to consider the guest experience in all that we do,” she enthuses.

“From how we implement the Capital Development Program to changing our business model in order to address what our guests should experience when they travel through LAX or Van Nuys Airport.”

The bigger picture LAX, of course, isn’t alone in needing to upgrade its infrastructure in order to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.

In fact, ACI-NA recently revealed that over $100 billion needs to be invested on US airport infrastructure in the next five years to accommodate growth in passenger and cargo activity.

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Does the size of this figure surprise Flint and does she believe that going forward it is inevitable that we will see more P3 projects in the US like the concession for LaGuardia’s Terminal B or San Juan in Puerto Rico?

The likeable Flint admits that she isn’t surprised by the infrastructure needs of US airports, but is quick to point out that there is no one size fits all solution.

“Flexibility and local control are essential,” she says.

“Airports across this country face unique challenges and have excellent talent and local oversight to create the solutions that are best for them.

“My peers wake up every day visioning how we can improve air travel because we know how important air travel is to the world around us.”

In her capacity as boss of LAX and a board member of ACI World, Flint was one of the aviation industry representatives invited to meet new US President, Donald Trump, earlier this year to discuss ways of improving the US airport system.

She felt the meeting went well although is not in agreement with the president that the US currently operates “obsolete airports, an obsolete plane system, obsolete trains and bad roads”.

“We learned that the new president is a fan of aviation and well understands that airports are powerful economic generators that provide good sustainable jobs,” she says.

“Our message is to grant airports the tools for investment to address this imminent need, foster competition and industry growth – all which are great for the customer and the local communities in every state.”

Life is certainly far from dull for Flint as she fast approaches the end of her second year in charge of LAWA thinking about the best way forward for not only LAX but the entire US airport system.

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SPECIAL REPORT: SUSTAINABILTY

A new solar farm has reduced Belfast International Airport’s energy bills by £100,000 in its first 10 months of operations.

Leading the way Airports are perfectly placed to become sustainability leaders and role models for the communities they serve, writes Air Transport Action Group’s Haldane Dodd.

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viation connects the world, literally. Our industry brings together people, business and cultures like no other.

Every day, over 100,000 flights join 10 million passengers with their destinations. We transport $6.4 billion in cargo every year. We facilitate 54% of world tourists. Most importantly, we connect remote communities and we bring families together.

We play a vital role in modern lives and, as middle classes grow in emerging economies around the world, we will allow more people than ever to see the world. By 2034, we estimate that there will be around seven billion passengers travelling each year – a doubling of today’s demand.

That growth brings with it both opportunities and challenges.

Businesses in the industry can continue to grow as they meet the needs of citizens to travel and whole economies benefit when they open up to the world through the connectivity of air travel.

Challenges come in two forms. The challenge to our industry of meeting the growth with infrastructure development, guaranteeing we have the workforce needed in the coming years and ensuring growth does not just mean further congestion in the skies and on the ground.

But we also have a responsibility to ensure that growth takes care of our impacts on the world, particularly on communities and the environment.

‘Sustainability’ is sometimes seen as an overused phrase these days.

It remains an important concept though: ensuring that the actions we take today help support the future of the industry, of society and the planet, rather than simply depleting resources. Importantly, sustainability is not just about doing things in a ‘green’ way, but also respecting the development of society, providing decent jobs, fostering education and ensuring that the business can thrive well into the future as well.

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A global sustainable development framework In 2015, the international community developed a framework for the next 15 years of global development. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are intended to bring millions out of poverty, whilst also ensuring that the progress takes place with environmental and social requirements in mind.

As with any United Nations programme of action, it is necessarily a broad set of goals, but one that builds an agenda that both governments and businesses can use to set their own sustainability objectives.

Aviation contributes directly to at least 14 of the 17 SDGs, some in larger ways than others. See more about the goals at https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs

Airport leadership Airports are a critical component of the cities they serve, generating economic growth, supporting jobs and acting as lifelines in times of trouble. Naturally, with such large pieces of infrastructure, there is an inevitable environmental and social impact.

However, most airports are able to take steps to minimise the negative impact of their development and, in fact, I believe that airports have a unique opportunity to act as leaders in their communities in terms of best practice environmental and social action.

In this regards airports are already taking firm steps to mitigate their climate impact, instituting green policies that reduce carbon dioxide emissions and lessen their impact on local air quality.

SPECIAL REPORT: SUSTAINABILTY

The airport sustainability influence It all starts with the role of the airport operator itself, taking a proactive approach towards sustainable thinking. This could influence – with consultation – the way the entire airport community can move towards comprehensive sustainability planning.

More importantly, the concentration of businesses and employees at an airport site means that it can also set an example for off-airport businesses, communities, cities and even across some entire nations.

Airports can influence across a range of sustainability areas. These include new energy options; sustainable purchasing; better access options; supporting community engagement; and social and economic improvement.

Therefore, airports have a great potential to influence their partners to move to a more sustainable business practice which can lead to natural amplification of that change outside the airport boundary.

One example could be shifting away from fossil-based fuels and towards more sustainable options. As many gateways have already done, an airport can build charging stations for electric vehicles, promoting their use for internal airport traffic.

Another example is working with environmental agencies, so airport staff or local taxi companies could be given incentives to switch their transport to electric vehicles. The spread of electric vehicles could then be encouraged outside the boundaries of the airport itself.

Over 100 airports worldwide have installed solar power facilities: those on small islands and remote locations like Palau in the Pacific Ocean are often leading the way for their communities to benefit from new energy sources as well.

How an airport connects with the city it serves is an added value of its sustainability influence on surrounding communities. Improving the local air quality by the development of more efficient ground transportation links is a classic example of what can be done.

Without doubt the availability of more efficient ground transportation is essential to create a disincentive to using private vehicles.

Affordable – or even free – efficient public transport for passengers or staff, bike lanes and bike storage facilities or car sharing on an

airport-wide scale are all options that are already taking place at many airports worldwide. Incorporating such schemes into airport planning could increase an airport operator’s ability to positively influence the sustainability of the communities they serve.

In fact, airports are well placed to take on positions of social leadership in their surrounding communities and some, of course, have already started to do this. They include London’s Heathrow Airport, which recently released a comprehensive sustainability framework that can serve as a model for others.

This social leadership concept can take the form of relationships with local education providers, sports teams and community groups and can not only provide support to those activities, but also help build the airport workforce of the future.

Work fairs can introduce airport employers with potential employees from local communities. Building relationships with schools can inspire students into technology, enabling great careers in aircraft maintenance, or to airport executive positions.

Part of a bigger picture As a responsible industry, we must build on the good work already being done and achieve the ideals of sustainable development and responsible growth, not only to safeguard our ability to continue to serve our stakeholders, but also to show an airport’s role as a driver of sustainability in all aspects.

This means becoming more efficient in the economic sense, but also the social and environmental, decarbonising operations and transport links, as well as encouraging environmentally responsible ambitions like biodiversity on airport land.

Working together with the aviation industry and the communities they serve, our airports can move towards becoming one of the central exponents of sustainability and become an inspiration to their communities and other industries alike.

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Energy efficiency ACI World’s aviation environmental specialist, Juliana Scavuzzi, considers energy efficiency at airports.

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ossil fuel generated heat and electricity is generally an airport operators main source of carbon emissions, which is why reducing dependency on this type of energy, and also improving energy efficiency, have been shared industry goals for decades.

In light of current and forecast traffic growth, airports must both increase their capacity and limit their environmental impact – particularly by improving energy efficiency.

To date, airports have managed their energy efficiency levels in different ways. For instance, more than 100 airports have installed solar power panels, invested in green building designs that save energy, and begun using more efficient lighting, air conditioning systems and so on.

ACI also supports its member airports in transitioning to more efficient energy use through several different initiatives.

The first step to addressing an airports’ level of energy efficiency is to define the amount of their energy consumption. The Airport Carbon Emissions Reporting Tool (ACERT), developed in 2009 in partnership with Transport Canada, is a complimentary tool that helps airports map their own energy consumption and related carbon emissions.

Once a report of their emissions has been established, airports are better equipped to plan their reductions and use of alternative energy as well as to document their energy efficiency improvement. ACERT can be used by both experts and non-experts alike.

The ACI Airport Greenhouse Gas Manual is another useful tool that helps airports address their emissions related to energy use. This manual was published in 2009 and is currently being updated by the ACI World Environment Standing Committee.

You can read more about ACI’s Airport Carbon Accreditation programme on page 33 of this issue. Other initiatives include the ACI Asia-Pacific Green Airports Recognition programme, which had ‘energy management” as its 2017 theme and highlighted some truly impressive initativies.

Kuala Lumpur International Airport, for example, was recognised for its implementation of a Solar Photovoltaic (PV) system – part of the airport’s Carbon Management Plan (CMP) – which reduced their dependency on the electricity grid by 7% per year, equivalent to

18,638MWh and 13,811 tonnes of CO2 per year. Darwin International Airport was also recognised for the development of the largest airside photovoltaic (PV) solar facility in the world (5.5 megawatt facility).

In North America many airports have implemented renewable energy projects and Miami International Airport recently won ACI-NA’s Environmental Management Award for a project that will save the airport more than 35 million kilowatts of power per year and $40 million in utility costs over the next 14 years.

Elsewhere, inspirational milestone projects include Galapagos Ecological Airport (see page 35) and Cochin International Airport, which has become the world’s first airport to fully operate on solar power and expects to save 300,000 tons of CO2 over the next 25 years – the equivalent of planting three million trees.

Other initiatives to reduce energy consumption have also been successfully implemented. For instance, those recognised by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, to improve efficiency in building and operations, that has certified airports such as San Francisco International (Terminal 2), Boston Logan (Terminal A) and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (International Terminal).

Airports are also involved in renewable energy projects that reduce their CO2 emissions from the aircraft at the gate. In this regard, ICAO has been working with selected airports to implement a ‘solar-to-gate’ project that uses solar energy to power aircraft at the gate, substituting the use of the Auxiliary Power Unit.

Energy efficiency at airports is indeed a topic that has evolved with the increase use of renewable energy and new technologies that present both opportunities and challenges, especially considering the increase demand for more capacity.

New airport infrastructure, intended for long-term use, must be planned well in advance and will need to include energy efficiency concepts. Similarly, energy efficiency at airports must also be considered through the better use of existing terminals and runways.

Increased engagement with third parties, such as airlines and ground transportation, is the next natural step for airport operators seeking to reduce their own energy consumption and influence their partners to reduce their own.

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Planning for sustainability Embracing sustainable development will help ensure the long-term futures of airports across the globe, writes Landrum & Brown’s managing consultant, Sara Christen-Hassert.

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hat is sustainability? In most sectors, it’s commonly defined as the balance of environmental, financial, and social goals.

Sustainable practices can reduce the environmental impact of developed infrastructure while at the same time creating financial and operational benefits for a project and social benefits for the community at large. Together, these aspects of sustainability are commonly referred to as the ‘triple bottom line’.

For those who are familiar with this definition, we still sometimes wonder – what does it really mean to be sustainable? How do you get there and how do you know you’ve arrived?

Unfortunately, there is no magic answer. The answer is different for every airport and its unique mix of ownership, operating characteristics, tenants, concessionaires, services, and the region of the world where it’s located.

Airports throughout the world today are challenged more and more to achieve new goals and targets for improved environmental performance, such as aggressively reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and striving for carbon neutrality, while often dealing with scarce funding and limited staff resources.

At the same time, many must serve rapidly growing passenger demand, with increases in service and evolving passenger expectations.

As a result, airports need strategies for sustained growth that also control costs and reduce environmental impacts over time.

By starting with a solid plan, an airport can set both short-term and long-term goals for sustainability, set targets to track performance toward those goals, involve key stakeholders that are crucial to achieving targets, and ultimately, maximise efficiency and reduce waste in all processes – hence achieving that elusive triple bottom line.

Planning for sustainability – or the integration of sustainability into the airport planning process – can be applied not only to new development, but also to the operation and maintenance of existing and aging infrastructure.

And it doesn’t only apply to occupied spaces, such as terminal buildings. Unoccupied structures, pavements, and flatworks also benefit from sustainability planning, and can help an airport achieve its ultimate goals.

Everyone wins All categories of airport development and operations can benefit from the integration of sustainability into its routine way of thinking.

Typically, airport projects fall into one of the following categories, either as capital projects or operations/maintenance programmes associated with them: • Civil – Airside • Civil – Landside • Occupied Buildings (airside and landside) • Unoccupied Buildings (airside and landside) Projects and programmes in each of these categories are candidates to be considered in establishing a sustainability plan.

Elements of a sustainability plan for airports Regardless of the type of projects or operational processes that may be included in an airport’s sustainability plan, there are common steps that can be followed to start the planning process.

The results will be unique to each airport, and the level of success depends in part on the extent to which the entire organisation is willing to embrace the vision and the plan. It is therefore important to: • Establish the environmental context – create a foundational baseline for benchmarking future initiatives; • Understand current positions on sustainability – comprehend the airport leaderships’ vision of and the organisation’s culture toward sustainability and understand current practices that may already be working towards that goal;

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• Develop sustainability goals and targets to achieve your aims – establish a framework, appropriate (and measurable) metrics, and desired timeline for individual categories such as water, air quality, waste, noise, transportation, energy, materials and resources, and green concessions; • Develop sustainability planning guidance – establish technology strategies/best practices for planners, designers, contractors, operations/maintenance mangers and concessionaires/tenants to achieve the airport’s sustainability goals and targets.

Airports today have many options in how they go about their sustainability planning, and they have many motivators and goals, but no matter how or why it’s done, the key commonality is that all airports undertaking sustainability planning are seeking one overarching thing – increased efficiency. By increasing efficiency, an airport can reduce wastefulness in its processes.

The waste that can be reduced represents an opportunity for potential cost savings as well as better utilisation of available (and often limited) resources, or the time and energy of the airport’s labour force.

Resiliency: the evolution of airport sustainability planning When you start to think about sustainability in the context of efficiency, it can easily move beyond environmental goals or green initiatives, and when it does, it enters the field of resiliency, which is effectively where the future of airport sustainability is heading.

Resiliency planning is a term that is often associated with assessing your airport’s risk for the unknown events or effects such as a catastrophic event or climate change. How will you deal with an extreme weather event?

Are you prepared to meet the demands of your passengers, tenants, and community at large in the face of a state of emergency?

When you approach resiliency planning as ultimately increasing efficiency of all aspects of airport operations, you can begin to understand the full force of this unique opportunity.

A sustainability plan that considers how to improve the airport’s resiliency will reduce vulnerability to catastrophic weather events and maximise emergency preparedness, reduce risk/insurance costs, and ensure business continuity.

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Resiliency planning ensures preparedness for changing conditions, while operating an airport efficiently and safely.

Benefits include energy, resource, and operational efficiencies; building redundancy into the system; improved reliability to serve growing demand; reduced reliance on outside initiatives; enhanced the passenger experience; and assurance to passengers, tenants, and stakeholders that an airport can respond to rapidly changing conditions.

Airport sustainability programmes, including resiliency planning, are most successful when they are fully integrated in all aspects of airport development and operation activities.

They are applicable early in the planning and design phases of a project, continuing through construction into day-to-day operations and maintenance, as well as through ultimate decommissioning and demolition. This approach takes into account the lifecycle impacts of processes and equipment and not only minimises total costs, but also overall environmental impacts.

Whether an airport has a fully developed sustainability programme with years of data and lessons-learned to look back on and share with others, or whether an airport is in the development stages of a plan that will someday be an all-encompassing programme, it’s important to understand that anything done to increase efficiency and reduce waste, is going to produce benefits.

Benefits can be realised as lower lifecycle costs when compared to traditional practices. Sometimes we still need to remind ourselves that although sustainable technologies and practices might have higher up-front costs to implement, they can generate significant savings over time.

This requires a comprehensive assessment of costs through the life of a project to fully capture the potential benefits of sustainable best practices. There are real savings being realised on many fronts including financial, resource and environmental – and airports continue to prove this over time.

Looking to the horizon, beyond monetary cost savings, sustainable practices and resiliency planning will reduce an airports’ overall environmental footprint, ultimately benefiting its customers, stakeholders, and local community, and the global aviation industry.

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SPECIAL REPORT: SUSTAINABILTY

On the waterfront

Gene Cabral, executive vice president of PortsToronto, owner and operator of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, reflects on the importance of being a good neighbour to ensure the gateway’s licence to grow.

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t PortsToronto, we recognise the importance of employing environmental best practices throughout our business operations and Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, which is located just minutes from Toronto’s downtown core, is no exception.

Billy Bishop Airport is Canada’s ninth-busiest gateway and welcomed 2.7 million business and leisure travellers in 2016.

The airport is also Canada’s sixth-busiest airport with passenger service into the United States.

The airport is a key driver of Toronto’s economy, accounting for more than C$2.1 billion in economic output each year and supports 6,500 jobs, including 1,960 directly associated with airport operations.

However, operating an airport that is part of a thriving, mixed-use urban waterfront requires the right balance to ensure that operations keep pace with the surrounding community and that measures are in place to mitigate the impacts associated with running a successful airport.

One impact in particular is that of noise generated by aircraft and ground operations. At Billy Bishop Airport, we take noise mitigation very seriously and continue to work to minimise our airport’s noise in a number of ways.

Over the years, we have implemented various initiatives to ensure that an effective balance is struck between commercial and community interests, and that measures are in place to mitigate noise from the airport’s operations.

From operating a state-of-the-art Noise Monitoring System and offering free access to Webtrak – an internet-based software service that enables anyone with a computer or tablet to gather information on an aircraft they hear or see flying overhead – to policies that govern how and when certain functions such as engine ground run-ups and ferry start-ups are performed, noise management is woven into everything the airport does.

Creating new infrastructure has been an important piece in our noise mitigation strategy and, in 2015, we opened a pedestrian tunnel which enables passengers to walk between the mainland and the airport, 100ft beneath the surface of Lake Ontario.

This major piece of infrastructure has significantly reduced noise generated from traffic congestion in the surrounding airport community as surges in traffic have eased considerably.

And in 2016, the airport’s two Noise Monitor Terminals (NMTs), which are the foundation of Billy Bishop’s noise monitoring system and provide ongoing noise-level data to the airport’s Noise Management Office, were upgraded and a third new noise monitor was installed.

We have also redesigned the taxi and parking areas, added extra bike racks to encourage non-vehicular access to further mitigate noise and installed a 93-metre Noise Barrier to mitigate aircraft ground noise.

This past April, we were proud to officially open our Ground Run-up Enclosure (GRE), only the second such facility of its kind in Canada that will accommodate commercial aircraft following engine maintenance and is designed to dampen the noise associated with high-power aircraft engine ground run-up operations.

Managing noise is a key part of our commitment to the environment and to the wellbeing of the surrounding community, and we are always developing new and innovative approaches to further mitigate noise from our operations.

For example, over the course of a three-year airfield rehabilitation project currently underway at the airport, PortsToronto implemented measures such as marine barging to minimise the impact of construction activities on local residents including limitations on construction-related noise.

As the floating barge can carry 900 tonnes of aggregate material from the port to the airport in one trip, 64 dump trucks (32 each way) were taken off the neighbourhood roads. This initiative has not only accounted for 4,125 fewer truck movements via the airport’s surrounding roadways during phase one of the airfield rehabilitation project, but has also resulted in zero noise-related complaints to date.

Such innovation helped the airport win Best Noise Mitigation Program at the recent ACI-NA Awards.

From working together with the community and our airport partners on the implementation of noise mitigation policies to creating new infrastructure, the noise mitigation programme at Billy Bishop Airport is an essential component of airport operations.

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Global mission

ACI’s Airport Carbon Accreditation programme is helping combat the impact of climate change by reducing CO2 emissions on the ground, writes Marina Bylinsky.

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ddressing emissions on an airport site is a challenge that requires a lot of creativity and tenacity from the airport operator, but it can also give rise to highly innovative carbon management solutions.

Encouraging and recognising these solutions is the purpose of ACI’s Airport Carbon Accreditation, the only independent, global carbon management standard for airports.

Airport Carbon Accreditation assesses and recognises the efforts of airports to manage and reduce their carbon emissions according to four ascending levels of certification – ‘Mapping’, ‘Reduction’, ‘Optimisation’ and ‘Neutrality’.

Throughout these levels, airports have to comply with increasing obligations, in particular by including emissions from third party stakeholders operating at the airport in their carbon management, notably airlines, ground handlers or retailers.

The ultimate certification level – carbon neutrality – requires that the airport offsets those remaining CO2 emissions under its direct control, that cannot be further reduced.

It is a key feature of the programme that airport operators have to first reduce their own emissions as much as possible, before being allowed to compensate the rest.

The programme is now close to the end of its eighth year, which has been marked by significant developments. As of mid-April 2017, 190 airports from 58 countries representing 38% of world air passenger traffic have been certified.

Out of these, 29 have reached carbon neutrality, which means that seven new airports have achieved the highest accreditation level compared to previous year.

And, for the first time, airports outside of Europe have achieved carbon neutrality. These include Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in the US, Delhi-Indira Gandhi and Hyderabad-Rajiv Gandhi airports in India, and most recently, Sunshine Coast Airport in Australia.

In Europe, Nice, Athens and Manchester brought the number of carbon neutral airports to 25 – half way towards ACI Europe’s target of 50 carbon neutral European airports by 2030.

While being very different one from another, these airports share a common understanding of carbon neutrality as requiring an innovative approach to both the supply and the use of energy at an airport.

This includes, for instance, the procurement or direct generation of electricity from renewable sources, the use of low carbon fuel or electricity for ground support equipment and efficiency improvements of lighting and heating/air conditioning systems in terminal buildings.

Furthermore, Airport Carbon Accreditation has gained extensive institutional recognition since its launch, including the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding with the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) at COP21.

In addition, the relevance and performance of the programme have recently been confirmed in the International Transport Forum (ITF) Transport Outlook 2017, published by the OECD. This authoritative publication has emphasised the positive results in terms of enhanced CO2 efficiency of accredited airports.

There is a clear trend of decreasing CO2 emissions per passenger since year two, in spite of a growing number of certified airports and thus their aggregated carbon footprint.

The latest carbon performance results of accredited airports worldwide will be released in the Airport Carbon Accreditation Annual Report in September 2017.

AW

About the author Marina Bylinsky is ACI Europe’s environmental strategy and intermodality manager. Visit www.airportCO2.org or follow @AirportCO2 on Twitter for more information airports addressing CO2 issues.

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Best in class

SPECIAL REPORT: SUSTAINABILTY

Joe Bates takes a closer look at the development of arguably the world’s “greenest” gateway, Seymour Airport, in the remote Galapagos Islands.

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n some websites Seymour Airport in the Galapagos Islands is billed as the world’s first “green” airport or the most environmentally friendly gateway on the planet, and with all its energy needs met by solar and wind power and 80% of its infrastructure made from recycled materials, it is hard to dispute the claim.

Also know as Galapagos Ecological Airport, the Baltra island located gateway has its own desalination plant that captures and treats seawater and boasts a terminal building that is partly made from recycled steel pipes taken from the oil fields in Ecuador’s Amazon jungle.

Indeed, around 75% of the materials from the old terminal were recycled and used for the new building, including all the materials used to create its handful of shops, which were designed by local craftsmen from neighbouring Santa Cruz island.

The new 6,000sqm terminal even has mechanical shutters on its rooftop skylights that open and close automatically depending on the temperature inside the building.

These form part of its bio-climatic design to create “comfortable” conditions in the terminal throughout the year and, as a result of the use of natural light and ventilation, few areas require air conditioning, minimising its carbon footprint.

Photovoltaic panels on the roof of walkways provide around 35% of the gateway’s renewable energy with the remaining 65% generated by windmills located across the airport site.

Other environmental features of the $24 million terminal include the ability to recover, treat and reuse all the water used in toilets and sinks.

In addition, Galapagos Ecological Airport operator ECOGAL – a 100% owned subsidiary of Argentina’s Corporacíon América – notes that several pieces of furniture from the airport have individual environmental certificates and that “ecological stainless steel” was used for all signage, which is printed on vinyl using eco-solvent inks.

Not surprisingly such green credentials have led to the US Green Building Council awarding the airport Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification.

It also recently achieved Level 2 ‘Reduction’ status in ACI’s Airport Carbon Accreditation programme after initially being awarded Level 1 ‘Mapping’ accreditation in 2015.

Corporacíon América reveals that the global significance of the Galapagos Islands – declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1978 – meant that designing an environmentally friendly new terminal was top of its agenda from the minute it was awarded its 15-year operating concession.

The global airport operator, which opened the new terminal in December 2012, also believes that its efforts to “honour and conserve the unique environment of the Galapagos Islands” demonstrates its commitment to the sustainable development of its airports.

Ezequiel Barrenechea, president of Galapagos Ecological Airport and a director of Corporación América, says: “It fills us with great pride to have constructed, and now operate the world’s first ecological airport.

“Despite the challenges, we have accomplished our goal without sacrificing high standards in technology and service. It is particularly pleasing to have achieved this goal in Galapagos Islands as it means that we are doing our bit to take care of its fragile ecosystem at the same time as building a sustainable future for the islands and the airport. We think, feel and act green.”

Corporación América has invested around around $40 million on creating the new airport, which was built in three phases and involved the construction of the new eco-friendly terminal and an ATC complex in addition to the demolition, relocation or refurbishment of a number of other facilities.

Talking to CNN shortly after the airport opened, Barrenechea said: “The people that travel to Galapagos are people who are almost fanatical about ecology.

“That kind of tourist is the first to appreciate this project because they travel to Galapagos to feel the ecological side of the world. Part of the requirement of our certification is to teach people about what we’ve built, how we’ve built it and why. People will love it.”

Judging by its awards and the favourable comments on the airport’s website, it seems that they already do.

AW

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SECURITY

What lies beneath Is it time for the introduction of new technology to check the underside of vehicles at security checkpoints at airports? Colin Williams considers the options.

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irports should check the underside of vehicles at security checkpoints to restricted areas as part of a layered approach to security across the airport site.

However, there is pressure for high-volume traffic areas to maintain efficient flow, which must be effectively balanced against security needs.

For many years, the most commonly used system has been a convex mirror mounted on a stick. However, typically only the edges of the vehicle’s underside can be seen with any clarity. Also, while this method is relatively safe for the operator when drugs or other illegal goods are detected, the proximity to the vehicle causes obvious safety concerns if a potential bomb threat exists.

Another method, which offers complete viewing of the underside of the vehicle, is to install an inspection bay at the checkpoint, which must be sunk into the ground. But as the operator needs to physically view the underside of the vehicle, this also creates safety and delay issues. This results in insufficient time to properly review vehicles, or the introduction of checking quotas.

The first computer-based Under Vehicle Surveillance System (UVSS) was developed in the late 1980s and provided low-resolution, black and white images. Since then, this has developed into a more effective system, with three alternative camera technology options available.

The least sophisticated option uses video cameras to present a moving image to the operator. Another employs area scan cameras, which stitch images together in the same way that a panoramic photograph is produced.

The third option is line-scanning cameras, which work like a photocopier – rapidly scanning from one side of the vehicle’s underside to the other – to deliver a continuous image, full colour, high-resolution image to help any anomalies easily stand-out.

The major benefit of using such computer-based UVSS is that every vehicle can be checked and a complete view of the underside of the vehicle is presented, giving the security team 100% coverage of every vehicle passing through the control gate.

In 2014, Gatwick Airport made a major investment in its road-toairside security gates, replacing the mirror on a stick approach to improve detection rates of prohibited articles and explosives, while allowing vehicles to access airside more effectively and efficiently. The four-lane vehicle screening facility monitors the high volume of airport traffic, including staff, maintenance and catering vehicles.

By integrating the UVSS with an Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system, individual vehicles can also be linked to their under-chassis scans. This will prove invaluable to increase security effectiveness and support post-event reviews, as well as indicate vehicles that are blacklisted, such as contractors trying to gain access to the site when their pass has expired.

Indeed, Gatwick’s system uses ANPR to cross check each vehicle against the airport database to ensure they are approved to access the airfield. ANPR also enables Gatwick to report on vehicle queue times, which can then be used to improve the efficiency of staffing rotas, as well as better understand who is on and off site.

Whichever UVSS is used, it is important that the operation is overt.

Not only does this give a sense of safety assurance to visitors and staff at facilities, it also provides a visible deterrent to those who might consider smuggling contraband or concealing a bomb.

However, effective operator training and experience is essential, as it is not the system which spots potential threats, but the person.

Over time, operators will become increasingly adept at identifying a range of illicit items, ultimately providing a more robust way of improving security.

As with all technology, it is only as good as the person using it, but these technological advances now mean that airport security can AW be significantly enhanced.

About the author Colin Williams works for Chemring Technology Solutions where he is product manager for its VehicleScan under vehicle surveillance system.

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The distinctive uniforms of Halifax Stanfield International Airport’s Tartan Team.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Dressed for success Uniforms can help create a competitive edge by showcasing a brand and boosting customer service levels by making staff easier to identify, writes Simon Jersey’s Paul Farrell.

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uniform is one of the most important parts of any brand’s visual identity. In an airport, this takes on even greater significance when building trust among customers needs to be done quickly and efficiently.

Uniforms are a key way that brands can express their values, speaking volumes about the company and the service it offers.

Our research shows that 64% of people think a smart uniform demonstrates respect for customers, while a third have greater trust in someone who is well dressed.

Airlines have traditionally been known for creating iconic uniforms. From Emirates’ signature red hat and sweeping scarf to the ‘Singapore Girl’ of Singapore Airlines. They understand the value of using uniforms to create a point of difference – luxury, quality or cultural identity, for example, and inspire loyalty from both staff and customers.

While airlines are undoubtedly the masters at memorable uniforms, their approach can and should be used by any business with customer facing staff to stand out from the crowd.

In a bustling and sometimes overwhelming airport, uniforms help passengers and staff to distinguish between different people and job roles.

With limited time, passengers need to be able to identify assistance at every stage. Whether they’re frequent fliers or holidaymakers, making the staff passengers want to talk to easy to identify will make for a smoother journey.

This in turn can assist in creating greater goodwill to both the airport and the services or businesses they access.

In addition, for retail, food and beverage teams the reasons for wearing standout uniforms can go even deeper. People want to do business with others that share their tastes and ideas. Uniforms communicate brand concepts and demonstrate credibility in a competitive environment.

When time is limited, people will use these types of clues to quickly identify where they want to eat, shop, drink or relax.

A uniform can also bring together people in the same company who have very different job functions, making them visibly identifiable as part of one team.

Take ISS, for example. It provides a variety of services ranging from aircraft cleaning to passenger assistance and hosting at 80 airports across the globe, yet through the colours, shapes and logos used in the uniforms we provided it, it is easy to identify them as being part of the same organisation.

To create a uniform with impact, we recommend using distinct features or styles. Job function is an important consideration and uniforms should support the employee considering, for example, equipment carried or tasks completed.

Colour is also important with darker shades suited to positions of authority, while bright colours create a sense of fun and excitement and are often seen in airports worn by customer service teams or holiday operators.

Whatever the uniform, it should always be one that staff like wearing, and their views should always be part of the design process.

Returning to the airline example, the idea of dressing in an iconic uniform that is recognised and respected around the world is all part of the excitement of getting the job.

In a recent survey we discovered that 59% of uniform wearers feel more professional and more than half feel that team morale is higher when everyone looks their best. When staff look good they feel good, enhancing motivation, teamwork and customer service to help deliver a competitive edge.

AW

About the author Paul Farrell is sales director at aviation uniform and workwear specialists, Simon Jersey.

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WBP NEWS

The latest news from ACI’s World Business Partners New Sharjah role for Parsons

Vanderlande acquired by TICO Vanderlande has been bought by Toyota Industries Corporation (TICO), a Japanese manufacturer of forklift trucks and the parent company of Toyota Motors.

The acquisition has been fully approved and supported by Vanderlande’s supervisory and management boards.

Vanderlande will retain its name and corporate identity, and continue to operate as a standalone entity from the same locations worldwide.

The transaction signifies TICO’s strategic ambition to increase its presence in automated material handling. It follows the recently announced expansion in North America with the acquisition of Bastian Solutions LLC and further cements TICO’s global leading position for total solutions within material handling.

Vanderlande’s CEO, Remo Brunschwiler, commented: “Vanderlande is pleased to be acquired by such a successful, strategic partner. The financial strength behind TICO and its global presence will help our company to continue with its strategy of sustainable profitable growth.”

Vanderlande recently announced that its revenues soared by 15% in 2016 to an all time high of €1.1 billion. Its strategy of sustainable, profitable growth was boosted by a record order book of €1.7 billion (+11%) during the calendar year.

Brunschwiler noted: “There is a high level of interest for the type of solutions and services that Vanderlande provides, and revenue is expected to increase again from CY2016.”

Parsons is to provide project management services for the Sharjah International Airport expansion in the United Arab Emirates.

Its project/construction management role will include oversight of the planning, design, construction and commissioning of the airport’s expansion.

The project, which includes raising the terminal’s capacity to 25mppa and improving road access to the gateway, is expected to make Sharjah International Airport one of the most architecturally distinctive landmarks in the Emirate.

“The Sharjah International Airport expansion programme will dramatically improve travel options to and from Sharjah, as well as promote economic growth and job creation,” says Gary Adams, president of the Parsons Group.

Parsons has been working in the Middle East Africa region for more than 60 years and has offices in the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain.

“Satisfying results” for Gebr Heinemann

Gebr Heinemann has announced that it achieved corporate balance and growth in the global duty free market in 2016, managing to largely offset the strong impact of global political developments on the international travel retail business.

As a result, it reports a controlled group turnover of €3.8 billion, which equates to growth of 5.6% on the previous year.

Heinemann remains the market leader in Europe, enjoying a 30% share of the airport duty free market. Allocated into the top three categories, LTC (Liquor, Tobacco, Confectionery) accounted for 58% of total sales, followed by Perfume & Cosmetics (31%) and Fashion & Accessories (8%).

The company insists that it will continue “investing intensively in the travel retail market” in 2017. A significant portion of the total investment of €100 million will be spent on Istanbul New Airport, the further development of the “retail experience” in Scandinavia and digital development.

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RUNNING WBP NEWS HEAD ADK International Location: Dubai, UAE Contact: Jacob Hoekstra, CEO E: jacob.hoekstra@adk.one W: www.adk.one ADK International has been a recognised player in helping airport management search internationally for the best executives for almost 20 years. In the battle for talent you need to be able to speak to people who know your business or industry; there’s no time to educate search consultants. All of our senior consultants have held executive positions or managerial roles before joining ADK, so they understand your concerns and are aware of the global challenges of your business.

Many times they are already connected to the talent you need!

The X-factor

Smiths Detection claims that the regulatory certification of its new passenger screening equipment will mean the end to random searches of travellers’ cabin luggage at airports.

Its HI-SCAN 6040aTiX advanced checkpoint screening solution is the first in the industry to be awarded the new European Explosive Detection Systems (EDS) certification EDS CB C1 for its automated explosives detection capability.

The move, it says, means that airports using the system can dispense with random searches using additional explosive trace detectors or dogs, thanks to its advanced detection system, which it claims “significantly enhances airport security while also speeding up the inspection process and boosting throughput”.

Additional benefits for airports, says Smiths Detection, include cost savings for administration and maintenance, as there is no

A welcome BLIP

BLIP Systems is confident that the implementation of its queue and flow management solution at Bristol Airport will help enhance the passenger experience and improve operational efficiency at the UK gateway.

Its BlipTrack solution measures passenger flow and dwell times, which are designed to enable the airport to understand how travellers move through and use the airport.

And with passenger numbers exceeding the seven million milestone for the first time in

Easy Fast Track need to use threat image projection to review operator performance.

It adds that the new equipment helps maintain high levels of operator performance as the complexity of X-ray images remain consistently the same, aiding threat detection.

“We are delighted to be the first in the industry to receive EDS CB C1 certification,” comments Cameron Mann, Smiths Detection’s global market director for aviation.

“Regulators are looking to next-generation detection technology to handle ever-evolving threats and we are proud that they have recognised our ability to keep passengers safe.

“We’re continuously working to meet the highest industry standards with our security solutions, ensuring passengers can travel safely and securely, while also helping lighten the load for airport operators.”

Bristol Airport’s history in 2016, arguably the installation of its BlipTrack kerb-to-gate solution by software specialists Gentrack couldn’t be better timed.

Airport operations director, Paul Davies, says: “We had very high expectations prior to the introduction of the system, and I am very happy to say that the outcome has proved very successful. The system has capabilities for further enhancements which will provide other long-term solutions in the future.”

Location: Nice, France Contact: Eric Trichot, managing partner E: eric.trichot@easyfastrack.com W: www.easyfastrack.com During Q3 2017, Easy Fast Track will launch a new app for Android and Apple devices that will allow passengers to access the fast track services of all partner airports.

There will be an annual quota of members per airport, as this will be a key element to controlling the development of the service.

MK Illumination Handels GmbH Location: Innsbruck, Austria Contact: Titina Probst, head of sales and communication E: t.probst@mk-illumination.com W: www.mk-illumination.com MK Illumination provides a comprehensive service in three main areas – retail real estate, leisure and public spaces. Main product areas include lighting, decorations, grottos and animation. MK Illumination maintains independently run subsidiaries in 30 countries, allowing each business to benefit from a global approach linked with local knowledge.

AIRPORT WORLD/APRIL-MAY 2017

AW

41

HUMAN RESOURCES

PEOPLE

matters Searching for the truth Dr Richard Plenty and Terri Morrissey reflect on the importance of evidence in people issues.

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remedied by better induction, training, hen it comes to people, nearly everyone claims to be more pay and staged career progression.

These were put in place at some cost, an expert. Many of us but the engineers still kept on leaving. consider ourselves to be It was only when the evidence from excellent judges of character.

Understanding other people’s motivations employee survey data, turnover statistics and intentions is often seen as a matter of and leaver interviews were put together that it became obvious that the real reason for simple common sense. people leaving was that there wasn’t enough Experienced managers in particular tend to be convinced that their view of their challenge in the job. People wanted more real responsibility rather than more support. employees’ attitudes and behaviours is Evidence based approaches to correct. Not unreasonably, many will argue organisation and people issues are the key forcibly that if they weren’t able to to sustainable high performance. understand others, they would not have Measuring ‘intangibles’ brings them to life. risen to positions of responsibility.

Collecting data on employee numbers, Indeed, many will say that they have turnover and sickness absence is the a very clear insight into what motivates their people. “Trust me”, they say, “I know starting point. This can be augmented with information on employee attitudes, what they’re like!” behaviours and perceptions.

But common sense alone does not Modern data analytics allow this provide a good guide to human behaviour in large and complex systems. We may have information to be used to show how these human factors are connected a sound view of what motivates those to, and drive, business performance closest to us, but this can be misleading and customer satisfaction. in a wider context.

The true value of an evidence-based Our own views on others are limited by approach though is that it allows us to our personal experience, prejudices and challenge our own assumptions and beliefs. perspective. People who work in airport San Diego International Airport uses organisations come from diverse backgrounds with values and attitudes shaped by gender, people analytics imaginatively to encourage generation and ethnicities, which may differ dialogue and discussion at a local level for just this purpose. Naples Airport has used the ACI markedly from our own.

AirPeople survey with great success to identify In these types of circumstances, it with precision the areas that need attention. can be easy for leaders and managers to For in the end, false beliefs about misjudge a situation.

In our own work we have had experience people and organisations are even more damaging than ignorance. As Mark Twain of a situation with a large multi-national said: “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets organisation where there was a high turnover of talented, young skilled engineers. you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”

The general view was that this could be

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Kimberly Becker has succeeded Thella Bowens as president and CEO of San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. The former director of San Jose International Airport enthuses: “This is an extraordinary opportunity that I am honoured to have.

Thella has built a strong organisation and culture. Succeeding her allows me to leverage all that I have done in San Jose and to build on a very solid foundation. My excitement is mirrored in SAN’s tagline – Let’s GO!” Berlin Brandenburg GmbH has a new CEO, Engelbert Lütke Daldrup, who has reportedly promised to lead the company “as transparently as possible”. Daldrup quit his position as State Secretary in the Berlin Senate to take up the role, signing a three-year contract with the airport operator. Former acting CEO, Dr Karsten Mühlenfeld, has left the company.

Tulsa International Airport and RL Jones Jnr Airport have a new CEO, Mark VanLoh. He was the unanimous choice of the Tulsa Airports Improvement Trust (TAIT), whose members believe that his 26 years of airport leadership experience will serve the Oklahoma gateways well.

Heading through the outdoor is Salt Lake City Department of Airport’s executive director, Maureen Riley, who is retiring on June 30 after more than a decade in charge. “She has been an incredible director of our airport during a historic era of passenger growth, and has been a steward of the facility’s largest-ever construction project,” said Salt Lake City Mayor, Jackie Biskupski.

Shannon Group, operator of Ireland’s Shannon Airport, has shuffled the pack and promoted from within to make company secretary, Mary Considine, its new group deputy CEO for finance and corporate services; and group chief commercial officer, Andrew Murphy, the new managing director of Shannon Airport.

Sydney Airport has announced that Kerrie Mather has decided to retire as managing director and CEO. An international recruitment firm has been appointed to undertake a global search for a new CEO and she will stay onboard until a successor is found.

About the authors Dr Richard Plenty is managing director of This Is… and currently leads the ACI Europe Leadership & HR Forum working group one employee engagement. Terri Morrissey is chairperson of This Is… and CEO of the Psychological Society of Ireland. Contact them through info@thisis.eu

AW

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