In the spotlight: ACI’s 25th Anniversary Airport profile: Montréal-Trudeau Special Report: New York JFK’s T4 Plus: Master planning, retail & building loyalty
Anniversary special: The journey has just begun August-September 2016 Volume 21 Issue 4 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)208 230 7867 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 Beth Owen +44 (0)208 707 2743 subscriptions@airport-world.com Managing Director Jonathan Lee +44 (0)208 707 2743 jonathan@aviationmedia.aero Published by Aviation Media Ltd PO BOX 448, Feltham, TW13 9EA, UK
Website www.airport-world.com
Airport World is published six times a year for the members of ACI. The opinions and views expressed in Airport World are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect an ACI policy or position. ISSN: 1360-4341 The content of this publication is copyright of Aviation Media Ltd and should not be copied or stored without the express permission of the publisher. Printed in the UK by The Magazine Printing Company using only paper from FSC/PEFC suppliers www.magprint.co.uk
All roads lead to Montréal Editor, Joe Bates, reflects on ACI’s 25th Anniversary and looks forward to the joint ACI-NA/ACI World Assembly, Conference and Exhibition in Montréal.
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ur cover image is probably a bit of a giveaway that the theme of this issue is Airports Council International’s 25th Anniversary and, as you would expect, that means celebrating all things ACI World. This, of course, means taking a brief look back at the history of the organisation, but our desire to mark the occasion by looking to the future instead of dwelling too much on the past means that the main focus of our 25th Anniversary special is very much on the here and now and what next for ACI World and airports across the globe. As a result, the issue contains articles from ACI World director general, Angela Gittens, and most of the current directors and senior members of her management team in Montréal about the latest ACI initiatives and possible future opportunities and challenges facing the organisation and the world’s airports. In the spotlight are deputy director general, Michael Rossell; director of airport customer experience and technology, Antoine Rostworowski; new economics and programme development director, Stefano Baronci; head of Global Training & Developing Nations Airport Assistance Programme, Kevin Caron; head of security, Nina Brooks; head of ASQ, Dimitri Coll; senior manager, APEX programmes, Danny Boutin; and aviation environmental specialist, Juliana Scavuzzi. I hope you find what they say interesting, informative and thought provoking and will take the opportunity to continue the conversation with them at the World Assembly, Conference & Exhibition in Montréal. As for the ACI history lesson, how do you sum up the first 25 years of the organisation in just 1,500 words? The answer is not easy as ACI has achieved so much in its first quarter of a century that it is literally impossible to highlight all its successes and pioneering work on just a few pages. Having said that, as every other article in 25th Anniversary special is looking to the future, it falls to me to do my best to provide you with a brief synopsis of the ACI story so far. So, apologies in advance, if I miss something out!
There is a saying in life that you should never go back, but for a whole host of reasons the decision to return to Montréal this year for ACI World’s Annual General Assembly (WAGA) feels absolutely right. As was the case in 2001 when it was last in Montréal, the event is being held in conjunction with ACI-NA’s Annual Conference & Exhibition; and, Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) president and CEO, James Cherry, will once again be our genial host. However, what makes the timing of the event extra special is the fact that it is a milestone year for both ACI and ADM as Montréal-Trudeau International Airport is celebrating its 75th birthday. And it doesn’t end there as Montréal – arguably the world capital of civil aviation because of the presence of ICAO and global organisations such as IATA, ACI, CANSO and IFALPA – itself is about to celebrate its 375th anniversary. It will also be the last WAGA in an official capacity for former ACI World and ACI-NA chairman Cherry, who recently announced his decision to retire at the end of 2016 after 15 years in the hot seat at ADM. As any regular attendee of industry events will tell you, ‘Jim’ is one of ACI’s biggest supporters and nicest guys, and an almost permanent fixture at the organisation’s events across the world over the last 15 years, so it seems only fitting that most of us will say our farewells to him in his hometown of Montréal this September. As always, the event itself promises to be another superb opportunity for delegates to discover more about some of the key issues facing airports today as well as the chance to learn about topics ranging from creating a ‘sense of place’ at your airport, crisis communication and PPP projects to adding to the bottom line by enhancing the passenger experience. Other features in this bumper 80-page issue of Airport World include articles on MontréalTrudeau; car parking; building F&B loyalty; sense of place design; IT innovation; and AW Zhenghzhou’s aerotropolis.
AIRPORT WORLD/AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2016
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CONTENTS
In this issue Issue 4 Volume 21
3 Opinion Editor, Joe Bates, reflects on ACI’s 25th Anniversary and looks forward to the joint ACI-NA/ACI World Assembly, Conference and Exhibition in Montréal.
10 ACI news New inductees to the ACI Director General’s Roll of Excellence, a key appointment at ACI World and a new report outlining the economic and social importance of aviation.
12 Big year for Montréal Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) president and CEO, James Cherry, talks to Joe Bates about the transformation of Montréal-Trudeau, hosting the biggest ACI event of the year and his impending retirement.
17 Don’t worry, be happy! Gert-Jan de Graaff, president and CEO of JFKIAT tells Joe Bates more about the development, operation and success of New York-JFK’s Terminal 4.
21 View from the top ACI World director general, Angela Gittens, looks ahead to the next quarter of a century as the organisation celebrates its 25th Anniversary.
22 Step back in time Joe Bates remembers some of the milestone events, people and notable achievements that have helped shape ACI World in its first quarter of a century.
27 Global influence ACI World’s deputy director general, Michael Rossell, reflects on the organisation’s close working relationship with ICAO and the importance of representing the interests of airports on the world stage.
29 Talking technology Antoine Rostworowski, ACI World’s director of airport customer experience and technology discusses the facilitation-enhancing impact of IT.
31 Striving for excellence Dimitri Coll, head of Airport Service Quality (ASQ), tells us more about the growth and development of ACI’s customer satisfaction benchmarking programme.
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CONTENTS
33 The data machine In a highly sophisticated and competitive market such as the airport sector, data matters, writes ACI World’s director of economics and programme development, Stefano Baronci.
35 Going green Juliana Scavuzzi, ACI World’s aviation environment specialist, considers the importance of sustainable development.
37 Safety first Danny Boutin, ACI World’s senior manager, APEX programmes, discusses airport excellence in safety.
39 Making a difference Developing people and airports is in ACI’s DNA, explains Kevin Caron, head of Global Training & Developing Nations Airport Assistance Programme.
41 Never standing still ACI World’s head of security, Nina Brooks, reflects on the organisation’s security goals, industry challenges and new initiatives designed to make the world’s airports safer.
43 In safe hands David Gamper, ACI World’s director of safety, technical and legal affairs looks at the next aerodrome safety and design issues.
44 Zhengzhou takes off John Kasarda tells us more about the exciting plans to create a dynamic economic zone around Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport in China’s Henan Province.
47 Landing revenue Landrum & Brown’s Brian Reed and Sheila Thomas reflect on the opportunities, risks and challenges to gateways of creating non-aviation related developments on or around the airport site.
50 Living in a digital world Blockchain technology was one of many high-tech initiatives under the microscope at this year’s Air Transport IT Summit, writes Joe Bates.
53 Got the look Robbie Gill, managing director of The Design Solution, explains why he believes that every airport needs to express a ‘sense of place’.
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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)
57 Global investor MAG USA CEO and president, Rosemarie Andolino, talks about the growing product portfolio of the overseas subsidiary of the UK’s Manchester Airport Group.
58 Smart moves Airports as the catalysts for economic development was top of the agenda at this year’s SMART Airports & Regions Conference and Exhibition in Richmond, British Columbia.
62 Building loyalty What do airport retailers and F&B operators have to do to win over customers and convince them to return again and again? Clare Williams investigates.
65 Making headlines President, Deborah Cooper, talks to Joe Bates about the launch, success and development of CNN Airport Network.
67 All about the airfield Crawford, Murphy & Tilly’s Craig Louden reflects on how US airports can navigate new FAA design standards that could potentially impact on the long-term development plans for their airfields.
71 Driving profits Small changes to the customer buying experience can make a big difference to an airport’s e-commerce revenues from parking, writes AeroParker’s Jon Keefe.
73 Paying off Airports continue to enhance their parking facilities to make them more efficient and customer friendly, writes Joe Bates.
75 Queue busting South Africa’s aviation sector is rapidly digitising its operations in line with global demands, writes Sello Mmakau, Airports Company South Africa’s chief information officer.
76 ACI’s World Business Partners The latest news from ACI’s World Business Partners including a special report from
thyssenkrupp Elevator on how moving walkways are getting quicker and aircraft docking faster.
78 People matters Dr Richard Plenty and Terri Morrissey provide their thoughts on: Respect.
Treasurer Arnaud Feist (Brussels, Belgium) ACI WORLD GOVERNING BOARD DIRECTORS Africa (2) Pascal Komla (Lomé, Togo) Bongani Maseko (Johannesburg, South Africa) Asia-Pacific (8) 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 (6) Daniel Burkard (Moscow, Russia) Declan Collier (London, UK) Robert Deillon (Geneva, Switzerland) Arnaud Feist (Brussels, Belgium) Augustin de Romanet (Paris, France) Sani Şener (Istanbul, Turkey) Latin America & Caribbean (3) Fernando Bosque (Guadalajara, México) Martin Eurnekian (Buenos Aires, Argentina) Héctor Navarrete Muñoz (Merida, Mexico) North America (6) Thella Bowens (San Diego, USA) Howard Eng (Toronto, Canada) Deborah Flint (Los Angeles, USA) Maureen Riley (Salt Lake City, USA) Tom Ruth (Edmonton, Canada) William Vanecek (Buffalo, USA) Regional Advisers to the World Governing Board (8) Aaron Adderley (Hamilton, Bermuda) Lew Bleiweis (Ashville, NC, USA) Joyce Carter (Halifax, Canada) Zouhair Mohamed El Aoufir (Rabat, Morocco) Michael Kerkloh (Munich, Germany) Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad Abdul Majid (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) Robinson Misitala (Livingstone, Zambia) Andrew O’Brian (Quito, Ecuador) Stefan Schulte (Frankfurt, Germany) Observer World Business Partner Observer Greg Fordham (Airbiz) Correct as of September 2016
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ACI WORLDHEAD NEWS RUNNING
World in motion New inductees to the ACI Director General’s Roll of Excellence, a key appointment at ACI World and a new report outlining the economic and social importance of aviation.
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e are pleased to announce four new inductees into the ACI Director General’s Roll of Excellence – Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport (Mauritius); Upington Airport (South Africa); Wuhan Tianhe International Airport (China); and Jacksonville International Airport (USA). The honour recognises those airports, which in the opinion of the passengers who participated in ACI’s Airport Service Quality (ASQ) surveys, have consistently delivered excellence in customer service. All four have received a top five ranking by size or region categories for five of the last six years in the ASQ Survey. “Inclusion into the Roll of Excellence not only recognises the pinnacle of customer service excellence, but a culture of continuous improvement in service to the travelling public at large,” says ACI World director general, Angela Gittens. “I would like to congratulate Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport; Upington Airport; Wuhan Tianhe International Airport; and Jacksonville International Airport. “They have outperformed time and time again and are testament to the consistent effectiveness of the ACI ASQ Survey,” concludes Gittens. A total of 33 airports have been inducted since 2011.
New head of events and communications Erika Jacinto is ACI World’s new head of events and communications joining from Bombardier where she oversaw international trade shows and customer hospitality events and conferences at the business aircraft division. Jacinto has a degree in Communications and Media Studies from the University of Lima in Peru and a Master’s in Business Administration with a marketing focus from the John Molson School of Business in Montréal, Canada. “ACI World events and conferences have become leading opportunities for finding solutions to current and emerging challenges, where all sectors of the aviation industry can unite to exchange insights into the latest trends, strategies and opportunities,” says ACI World’s director general, Angela Gittens. “Erika’s well-rounded experience in events, marketing and communications will contribute to our effectiveness and help us create new avenues for co-operation and collaboration.” ACI is also pleased to announce the appointment of Sabrina Guerrieri as manager, communications. She has taken over from Ryan White who has moved to a senior communications position at Toronto Pearson.
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SSR International Airport’s CEO, Romesh Bhoyroo, collecting his gateway’s ASQ award from ACI World’s director general, Angela Gittens, at this year’s awards ceremony.
Economic engine Aviation is vital to the modern, globalised world, supporting millions of jobs and driving economic growth. But the benefits of connectivity must be protected with appropriate support from governments if the air transport sector is to fulfil its potential as a connector of people, trade and tourism and a driver of sustainable development. These are the conclusions drawn in a new report, Aviation: Benefits Beyond Borders, launched by the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG). Worldwide, aviation supports 62.7 million jobs and generates $2.7 trillion in gross domestic product (GDP) and not only does air transport provide significant economic benefits, but it also plays a major role in the social development of people and communities all over the globe, allowing people to travel for educational opportunities and cultural exchange. ATAG executive director, Michael Gill, says that the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the United Nations highlights a number of goals that the international community should strive to achieve by 2030. “We found that air transport in some way supports 14 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, from decent work and economic growth to quality education and reduced inequalities. By continuing to grow in a sustainable manner, aviation can strive to be a force for good for many years to come,” he says. In the next 20 years, the report forecasts that aviation-supported jobs worldwide will increase to over 99 million and GDP to $5.9 trillion. However, it is quick to point out that this will depend on governments supporting sustainable aviation growth, particularly with efficiency measures such as airspace modernisation, infrastructure development and capacity improvements and the continued liberalisation of the sector. Gill says: “A significant factor in our work on sustainable development is the industry’s world-leading climate action plan. We need support from governments around the world to agree on a key part of that plan at the upcoming ICAO Assembly, where we hope an agreement can be reached on a global offsetting scheme for air transport. “It is a vital part of our industry’s future role in helping to support development worldwide.”
ACI WORLD NEWS
ACI events
2016
2016
2016
2016
2016
September 25-28
November 8-10
October 19-21
October 25-27
September 12-14
ACI-NA Annual Conference & Exhibition
ACI Latin-America & Caribbean Conference & Exhibition Brasilia, Brazil
ACI Africa General Assembly, Conference & Exhibition Maputo, Mozambique
AVSEC World Conference Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The Trinity Forum, Mumbai, India
ACI World Annual General Assembly Montréal, Canada
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
As of January 2016, ACI accounts for 592 regular members operating 1,853 airports in 173 countries. In 2015, airports worldwide welcomed 7.1 billion passengers and handled 105 million metric tonnes of cargo and 86 million aircraft movements. ACI is a non-profit organisation whose prime purpose is to advance the interests of airports and to promote professional excellence in airport management and operations.
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AIRPORT REPORT: MONTRÉAL
Big year for
Montréal Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) president and CEO, James Cherry, talks to Joe Bates about the transformation of MontréalTrudeau, hosting the biggest ACI event of the year and his impending retirement.
I
t is a big year for Aéroports de Montréal (ADM), which will host the joint ACI North America/ACI World Assembly, Conference and Exhibition in September as Montréal–Trudeau International Airport celebrates its 75th anniversary and sets new traffic records. Hosting ACI World’s annual conference in his hometown is certainly a huge thrill for Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) president and CEO, James Cherry, who reveals that the company has been planning to host the event for years. “We wanted to host World and North America in the same year and in the same timeframe as ICAO’s major three-year Assembly,” enthuses Cherry. “It is also the 25th Anniversary of ACI, the 75th anniversary of Montréal-Trudeau and the city is about to celebrate its 375th birthday, so all these factors really drove our desire to host the event in 2016.” “To be honest with you it is also time that Montréal – the world’s capital of civil aviation, especially so in the last few years since ACI, CANSO and IFALPA have joined ICAO and IATA and a host of aviation and aerospace companies here – once again hosted the airport industry’s biggest event.” In addition Cherry said it would give delegates who were in Montréal in 2001 for the World Assembly the opportunity to see how much MontréalTrudeau has changed over the last 15 years. “When we hosted the event in 2001 we hadn’t renovated the facilities at all, so it was the old Montréal airport and unrecognisable from today’s airport, which we have totally transformed over the past decade and in particular in the last couple of years,” he says.
New facilities These have included the newly expanded International jetty, which opened earlier this year; a raft of new sense of place commercial offerings; an innovative rest area called the ‘Room to Read’; and a children’s playground. Several high-end retail stores have also been added and the duty-free shopping area, The Loop, expanded as part of the concessions revamp which has seen Montreal-Trudeau’s retail and F&B services grow by 40% to over 100 outlets in the past five years. “The new-look jetty is an integral part of our strategy to attract more international traffic to Montréal-Trudeau and facilitate its growing role as a transportation hub,” he says. “International passenger traffic has grown at an annual clip of nearly 10% over the past decade, nearly double the rate of increase for domestic and transborder traffic, and we expect it to continue to climb.
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“Montréal–Trudeau has also become the most ‘international’ of Canada’s major airports, with nearly 60% of its passengers travelling to international destinations, including the United States. “With the expanded international jetty, we now have sufficient capacity to grow for the next nine years. It offers six new boarding gates capable of handling A380s and Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, as well as the equivalent of two additional gates accessible by shuttle. “The extra infrastructure processes US transborder passengers as well as international traffic and, with the clever use of movable glass walls, we can convert a gate from international to US transborder use as operational circumstances dictate.” The airport now has 60 contact gates (16 each for international and transborder flights, plus 28 domestic) as well as eight remote stands. He adds that initial feedback on the expanded jetty, which opened in May, has been positive. “We’ve expanded this place, we’ve modernised it and we’ve turned it into a fantastic facility and the people of Montréal are truly proud of what we’ve done,” comments Cherry. “Hosting the World Assembly will also give us the chance to showcase the airport to the world and the efforts of Aéroports de Montréal to improve not only the airport’s infrastructure but the customer service experience as well. “I am proud of our achievements. We have come a very long way in a relatively short space of time and I want the world to see it.” Does the opening of the new international jetty signal the end of the infrastructure development projects at Montréal-Trudeau? “The completion of development projects at an airport is a bit of an oxymoron as there is no such thing as being finished,” muses Cherry. “People always ask me when will the construction be finished at the airport
AIRPORT REPORT: MONTRÉAL
and think I am being facetious when I say that it will never be finished. But I am not, because we are constantly modernising to keep pace with technological developments and rising passenger demand.” He notes that passenger numbers at the airport have doubled over the last 15 years – a record 15.52 million passengers (+4.6%) used the gateway in 2015 and it is on target to break the 16mppa barrier this year – and states that better and more modern equipment will always be needed to increase Montréal-Trudeau’s capacity and operational efficiency. Cherry cites how self-service check-in kiosks and self bag-drop machines are helping transform the check-in process and the impact new interactive technologies are having on the airport shopping and dining experiences as examples of game changing IT.
IT innovation “We are continually looking at how we can improve the customer experience and ever-increasingly IT provides the solution, as the answer isn’t always to throw more bodies at a problem,” he says. “We have embraced IT and will continue to do so where we think it can make a difference to the customer experience. Our philosophy is definitely not IT for IT’s sake. If it makes life better for passengers and improves the operational efficiency then it will be on our radar.” He notes that Montréal-Trudeau’s new, improved YULi mobile phone app contains a wayfinding tool and provides users with information about the airport’s retail and F&B offerings, including the latest duty free promotions. Indeed, ADM’s strategy of integrating the best IT solutions into almost everything it does led to Montréal-Trudeau becoming one of the first airports in North America to introduce web check-in, common use kiosks,
automated border control (ABC) Customs clearance kiosks and other innovative technology. “We are always pushing the IT envelope and looking at opportunities to do more and, I don’t mind admitting that we are absolutely willing to learn from IT innovations at other airports,” says Cherry.
Leadership and change management Finding, recruiting and nurturing the development of the airport leaders of tomorrow, and leadership and change management have always been subjects close to Cherry’s heart, and looking for a new leader is now a scenario faced by ADM after the recent announcement of his intention to retire at the end of the year. Why now? “The last 15 years have been an unbelievable experience for me and I cannot tell you how much I’ve enjoyed it, but I just feel that it is the right time to move on,” he replies. “Yes, there have been some tough times. We had 9/11, SARS, Air Canada’s filing for bankruptcy protection, the second Gulf War and the recession of 2007/08, so it hasn’t exactly been a bed of roses, but I can honestly tell you that I’ve never had a better professional experience in my life. “I’ve been blessed with great people to work with at ADM and had the pleasure of working with ACI World and ACI North America, which again has been a real pleasure and a lifetime highlight for so many reasons, none more so than the because of the camaraderie with some fantastic people. “However, I’ve always felt that it is important to know when it is time to go and I think that after delivering a bunch of projects that have helped transform Montréal-Trudeau, and with ADM hosting the ACI World/ACI NA
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AIRPORT REPORT: MONTRÉAL
“The new-look jetty is an integral part of our strategy to attract more international traffic to Montréal-Trudeau and facilitate its growing role as a transportation hub,” says Cherry.
conference this year, that the time is right to turn the page and let someone else lead the organisation on the next chapter of its journey.”
Employer of choice Losing Cherry will, of course, be a big blow to ADM, but as you would expect from an organisation headed by someone whose passion is very much focused on staff development and succession management, it is in a good position to recruit a successor from either within or outside the company. ADM’s success in its stated goal of becoming an ‘employer of choice’ will certainly help it in the recruitment process as the airport is viewed locally as one of the best places to work for both new and existing employees. “We are seen by the marketplace of Montréal as a fantastic place to work, where people are well treated and given great opportunities to grow and be promoted with the company,” he enthuses. “So, the whole notion of leadership and the growth and development of talent has been central to our thinking for a number of years.” This commitment to staff development will actually be reflected in the programme at the Montréal conference by a seminar on leadership on the morning of September 28. He notes that ADM’s renumeration package for its executive team and management is very competitive and comparable with the private sector. “Working at the airport is an attractive proposition for graduates and we are certainly not short of applicants for all our jobs,” says Cherry, noting that the day earlier he had popped into a shop in downtown Montréal to buy some coffee and was recognised by one of the staff who promptly asked him for a job!
New train link ADM has been lobbying for a rapid rail link between Montreal-Trudeau and downtown for over a decade and Cherry is confident that this could now happen by ADM’s goal of 2020. Last spring, Quebec’s pension fund manager Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, proposed a 67-kilometre electric light-rail transit
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system for the Greater Montréal area that would feature downtown and airport stops. The project’s estimated cost is C$5.5 billion, of which the Caisse is willing to commit C$3 billion. It could become a reality if Québec and the federal government agree to co-invest in the project. “If the project gets the go ahead, construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2017, with the first trains running at the end of 2020,” says Cherry. “It would be the largest infrastructure project for Montréal since the creation of the metro in 1966. ADM is fully supportive of this project and working with the Caisse to make it a reality.”
Future passenger trends As the world evolves and people’s habits change – such as millennials not wanting to drive cars – isn’t it inevitable that the new breed of traveller will want to spend as little time in airports as possible and simply get to their end destinations as fast as possible? “You know I don’t think so as today’s generation are all about experiences and I believe they won’t mind spending time at the airport if there is something interesting to do there,” suggest Cherry. “Airports are going to have to become experiences in their own right where people go to get something exciting and different.” He notes that inline with this philosophy the airport has completely revamped its food outlets over the last year to create a much more Montréal centric offering. It includes a number of well-known brands you only find in downtown Montréal and Cherry says the move has proved so successful that he now knows of people that come to the airport even earlier than before just to eat at its restaurants. “Airports have to stay ahead of the curve and constantly look at how they can make the passenger experience better, because continuing to do what you’ve done for the last ten years or even the last two for that matter into the future just isn’t going to work,” he states. AW Jim, it’s been a pleasure. Enjoy your retirement.
AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT
Don’t worry, be happy!
Gert-Jan de Graaff, president and CEO of JFKIAT tells Joe Bates more about the development, operation and success of New York-JFK’s Terminal 4.
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ithout a doubt the private consortium recently awarded the concession to rebuild and operate New York–LaGuardia’s Central Terminal Building owe JFK International Air Terminal (JFKIAT) a huge debt. For if it wasn’t for the overwhelming success of its operation of Terminal 4 at John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) it is doubtful whether the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) would have elected to put the future development of such a key facility at LaGuardia in the hands of private investors. Terminal 4 is the only non-airline, privately operated terminal at JFK and was the first public-private partnership (PPP) or P3 projects of its kind at a US airport when PANYNJ awarded JFKIAT the contract to transform the former International Arrivals Building into a new state-of-the art facility. JFKIAT – then comprising a consortium made up of the Schiphol Group (40%), LCOR (40%) and Lehman Brothers (20%) although now it is 100% owned by Schiphol USA – initially invested $1.4 billion on creating Terminal 4, which opened for business in May, 2001. The company – operating under the terms of a 42-year lease after which time the terminal and everything on its site returns to the ownership of PANYNJ – has since overseen a $1 billion, two-phase expansion and renovation programme. Phase one of the upgrade, completed in 2013, added nine wide-body gates for Delta Air Lines, a new inline baggage system, a centralised passenger security checkpoint, an expanded Customs and Immigration facility, a new domestic baggage claim and a host of new and exciting food & beverage and shopping options. Phase 2, completed early last year, added 11 regional jet gates for Delta Air Lines that has allowed Terminal 4 to accommodate a number of new services and as a result, passenger numbers are soaring. Indeed, a record 19.5 million passengers used the now 36-gate terminal in 2015, and
de Graaff, who points out that Delta paid for the 11 new regional jet (RJ) gates in Concourse B, predicts that over 20 million will pass through the terminal this year. He says: “The two big factors behind the upturn in traffic are the opening of the 11 new gates that has allowed Delta to move its regional operation from Terminal 2 and the growth of international traffic. “A lot of our international carriers are growing, either by increasing frequencies or upgauging aircraft on existing routes or launching new services.” New arrivals include Air Serbia, Thomas Cook and Westjet while he notes that seven A380s currently serve T4 operated by a combination of Asiana, Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines. Delta accounts for just over half of Terminal 4’s passengers with Emirates, Caribbean Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and Virgin America completing the top five of its 32 airline customers today.
US trendsetter Gert-Jan de Graaff has no doubt that JFKIAT’s track record since T4’s opening persuaded PANYNJ to try and replicate the success of the project at LaGuardia. “We were the first P3 project in the US and I believe that it is a model that the Port Authority likes because it is now going down the same road at LaGuardia with Terminal B,” he enthuses. “The model provides the best of both world’s because instead of giving up total control of a key asset it is entrusting it to a dedicated, fully committed and focused private operator determined to get the best out of the business with an eye on passengers and improving the passenger experience. “I am 100% convinced that the Port Authority decided to go for a P3 project to develop LaGuardia because of our success with Terminal 4. It has had a good experience. It likes how we conduct our business, co-operate with them and have continually rising airline and passenger satisfaction scores every year.”
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AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT
With more than 70,000 passengers passing through T4’s doors on a daily basis, it is already the busiest of JFK’s six terminals, accounting for more than a third of its yearly traffic. Funding for its investments has primarily come from revenue bonds issued by the PANYNJ, which has effectively acted as a guarantor for the projects without taking on any of the financial risk. “In essence all the investments in T4 are made by JFKIAT and this will continue to be the case until we hand the facility back to the Port Authority in 2043,” says de Graaff. Until then as part of the concession agreement JFKIAT will pay PANYNJ ground rent for Terminal 4 and what de Graaff calls a “significant” part of its annual profits.
Passenger enhancing facilities JFKIAT’s investment in expanding Terminal 4 tells only half the story, however, because in addition to raising the facility’s passenger handling capacity and operational efficiency, it has also invested significant time, effort, and money on enhancing its retail and F&B facilities and improving customer service standards. Indeed, its concession partners have invested over $100 million on opening more than 70 new outlets since 2012, with a New York centric theme being behind many of the F&B additions. And it is clearly doing something right as T4 won ACI-NA’s 2015 Griesbach Award of Excellence for its commitment to providing an “unmatched concessions and retail programme”, and JFKIAT enjoys one of the highest passenger spends per enplanement in North America of $28. New retail and F&B facilities introduced in the last year include the opening of the first ‘So Chocolate!’ and ‘The Scoreboard’ shops in the US in collaboration with concessionaire, Paradies Lagardère, while food and beverage master concessionaire SSP America plans opening its next new concept, a 4,000sqft area called NYC Street Food in the final quarter of 2016. The terminal’s retail lounge has also hosted a number of special events that have included it becoming the temporary home to a one-of-a kind 1,500sqft airplane replica that de Graaff notes fit in with its philosophy of providing passengers with an exciting and friendly airport experience. “We know passengers spend a lot of time in our terminal, so we are strong believers in making the airport experience as pleasant and enjoyable as possible,” says de Graaff. “I often joke that all airport terminals should be based on the philosophy of don’t worry, be happy! This means that passenger processing should be fast and efficient and the building should be intuitive and easy to navigate, but it also means that it should be a happy place where there is lots to do and enjoy.”
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Working with JFK’s other terminals New York-JFK has a total of six terminals with the other five all operated by airlines – Terminal 1 (consortium comprising Air France and Lufthansa); Terminal 2 (Delta); Terminal 5 (JetBlue); Terminal 7 (British Airways); and Terminal 8 (American). Each terminal operates as a separate entity with responsibility for landside infrastructure such as roads and car parks and the airfield – with the exception of the FAA managed runways – falling to the PANYNJ. So is communication between all the different parties involved in the airport’s operation ever a problem? “It is one of the challenges we face, but in all honesty I think it is more of a problem for passengers who are sometimes confused by the set-up,” admits de Graaff. “There is, of course, some co-operation between the various terminal operators and I believe that we lead the way in this regard because our goal is simply to give passengers the best airport experience possible and we are not competing with them for traffic as we don’t run an airline.” All six terminals are linked by the AirTrain JFK, which certainly helps with connectivity, particularly for transit passengers that need to transfer between facilities for onward flights. In a bid to eliminate or reduce any passenger confusion about connections, de Graaff points out that JFKIAT has invested well in wayfinding signage while a number of customer service staff are on hand throughout the terminal to help and assist passengers.
Route network and future development He believes that JFKIAT’s status as the only independent terminal operator at JFK ensures that it has to provide the airlines with almost unbeatable services as “making our airline customers happy is essential to doing business with them in the future”. JFKIAT’s boss admits that this goal is helped by the terminal’s “state-of-the-art” facilities and insists that it will continue to invest in upgrading the terminal through new infrastructure and technology throughout the concession, which runs until 2043. In terms of attracting new carriers, he genuinely believes that T4’s combination of facilities and services make it the terminal of preference for the airlines, although airline alliances and existing agreements at JFK, of course, mean that getting new customers isn’t that easy. As a result, both JFKIAT and their own route development teams and sometimes this involves working together to woo a new airline customer. What next for infrastructure development? De Graaff reveals that JFKIAT is about to start a revamp the existing Arrivals Hall, wants to significantly improve the security screening area and has been talking to PANYNJ for the last 18 months about a possible 15-gate extension to Concourse A. “It is absolutely our intention to realise the Concourse A project and in AW the next five years if possible,” says de Graaff.
View from the top
SPECIAL REPORT: ACI’s 25th ANNIVERSARY
ACI World director general, Angela Gittens, looks ahead to the next quarter of a century as the organisation celebrates its 25th Anniversary.
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his year marks the 25th Anniversary of ACI. I would like to thank Airport World for joining in our celebration by dedicating this issue to the past, present and future of our organisation. The pace of change within the airport industry has accelerated over the last quarter century, and ACI has evolved in step to support its ever-growing membership. ACI was formed in 1991 through the merger of the Airport Operators Council International and the International Civil Airports Association with the aim of communicating the needs of the world’s airports to regulators and other stakeholders through one consolidated voice. ACI works to help airports achieve high levels of safety and security, environmental stewardship, customer service and economic vitality for the communities they serve. We provide training, publish best-practice guidance material, compile and analyse traffic and economic data, present opportunities for airport professionals to share knowledge and represent the airport sector within and outside of the industry on the emerging issues of the day. And, while all of these activities are undertaken on behalf of our members, ACI also serves the end user. As connecters of people, places and businesses, airports were fortunate to play an important role in the lives of over seven billion travellers last year. On any given day at airports all over the world, people meet, bid farewell, create and become inspired. Airports are far more than concrete and metal. We are part of an industry that, at its core, is about keeping the world connected. Our accomplishments to date are significant and reflect ACI’s ability to stay on the cutting edge of developments that affect the world’s airports. Looking forward to our next quarter century, we will relentlessly push the boundaries so that we can continue to grow as an industry. We will expand our already significant collaboration with stakeholders by representing airports on the world stage at meetings of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), its committees and working groups; partnering on programmes concerning safety, security and environmental protection; and holding leading events. I am pleased to report that ACI World will be co-operating with our partners in the ACI-ICAO-IATA Aviation Security Conference (AVSEC World) in Kuala Lumpur this October, and the Investing in Airports conference in Goa this December, produced by ACI and in co-operation with ICAO and the International Transport Forum (ITF) at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
We will help and encourage the next generation of airport professionals by providing them with the tools they need to succeed. As the world’s leading provider of airport management and operations education, we will continue to expand executive leadership, professional accreditation, subject-matter competency and personalised training courses. We will continue to promote excellence in customer service so that it exceeds passengers’ expectations in the years to come. We have developed new analytical tools to help airports better understand their strengths and opportunities for improvement, and we are also working on new surveys to extend this understanding to more areas, such as for arrivals passengers. And we will enhance our suite of tools and publications to help our members in their quest for economic sustainability. We take pride in providing a well-respected and authoritative picture of the industry through diverse ACI publications such as the Airport Economic Report, World Air Traffic Report and Global Airport Forecasting. I invite you to celebrate our 25th Anniversary with us through this issue of Airport World that features sections from each of our heads and directors describing upcoming initiatives. I also invite you to join us at the 25th ACI World Annual General Assembly right here in Montréal as we plant the seeds for another successful quarter-century. I have no doubt that the next 25 years will bring more challenges to overcome and opportunities to seize, and that ACI will take a leading role every step of the way, speaking with one voice — the voice of the world’s airports. AW
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SPECIAL REPORT: ACI’s 25th ANNIVERSARY
Step back in time Joe Bates remembers some of the milestone events, people and notable achievements that have helped shape ACI World in its first quarter of a century.
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desire to establish a single global body to speak with one voice for all of the world’s led to the creation of Airports Council International (ACI) in January 1991. Before ACI, airports were represented on the international scene by the Airport Associations Coordinating Council (AACC), which had in turn been created in 1970 by the three then-existing international airport associations: – The Airport Operators Council International (AOCI), which can trace its roots back to January 1, 1948, when representatives of 19 US airports gathered in New York to form the Airport Operators Council (AOC). – The International Civil Airports Association (ICAA), established in Paris in 1962 to offer membership to all airports across geographical boundaries. – The Western European Airports Association (WEAA), formed by airports in Western European in 1950 and based in Zurich. The three associations had collaborated on an informal ad hoc basis before 1970 but presented the interests of their memberships to other international organisations separately. With the passage of time, however, the growing importance of the external factors on airport operation created the need for a formal relationship with governments, airlines, aircraft manufacturers, air navigation service providers and other industry players and concerned parties. This led to the establishment of the AACC with a view to formulating unified airport industry policies, furthering collaboration between its constituent associations, and representing them collectively with worldwide aviation organisations and other relevant bodies. After WEAA was dissolved in 1985, AACC became a bipartite body but a single voice was really required to take airports to the next level, so in May 1989, AOCI and ICAA set up a joint taskforce led by Clifton Moore (Los Angeles World Airports) to look at the possibility of a merger. It included George Bean (Tampa), Paul Gaines (Houston), Ayre Grozbord (Tel Aviv) and Jack Moffatt (Federal Airports Corporation, Australia) from AOCI and Jean-Paul Beysson (Aéroports de Paris), Paul Genton (Geneva), June-Bong Kim (Korea Airports Authority) and Horstmar Stauber (Frankfurt) from ICAA. Manfred Schölch was also involved as a deputy for Horstmar Stauber. The idea behind the merger was to streamline activities, avoid duplication and maximise the use of scarce resources, drawing on the AACC staff and resources in Geneva as the nucleus of a new secretariat.
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A merger made sense and as a result the Constitution of ACI was approved by AOCI and ICAA memberships in the autumn of 1990 and came into effect on January 1, 1991. It is worth noting that when approving ACI’s Constitution at AOCI’s 43rd annual conference in Chicago, AOCI chairman and the future first director general of ACI World, Oris Dunham, declared: “I believe the new worldwide organisation will significantly enhance the ability of airports to effectively participate in guiding the global growth of aviation.” Initially structured into six regions (Africa, Asia, the Pacific, Europe, Latin America-Caribbean and North America), the new body was originally named the Airports Association Council International before being changed to Airports Council International in 1992. AACC’s executive secretary, Dr Alexander Strahl, became secretary general of the new organisation at the beginning of 1991 and remained in the position until he retired in 2003. Its transitional Governing Board consisted of 28 members nominated by AOCI and ICAA and chaired by George Bean, who had been the last AOCI chairman. At ACI’s inaugural General Assembly in New Orleans, delegates elected a new Governing Board for 1992-93 chaired by Lim Hock San.
Objectives and roles ACI’s mission to advance the collective interests of and act as the voice of the world’s airports and the communities they serve as well as promote professional excellence in airport management and operations, ensures that it had and still has the following objective and roles. • To maximise the contributions of airports to maintaining and developing a safe, secure, environmentally compatible and efficient air transport system; • Achieve co-operation among all segments of the aviation industry and their stakeholders as well as with governments and international organisations; • Influence international and national legislation, rules, policies, standards and practices based on established policies representing airports’ interests and priorities; • Advance the development of the aviation system by enhancing public awareness of the economic and social importance of airport development; • Maximise co-operation and mutual assistance among airports; • Provide members with industry knowledge, advice and assistance, and foster professional excellence in airport management and operations; and
SPECIAL REPORT: ACI’s 25th ANNIVERSARY
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Build ACI’s worldwide organisational capacity and resources to serve all members effectively and efficiently.
The early days ACI certainly appeared to hit the ground running and made an early impression at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Conference on Airport and Route Facility Management in Montréal in late 1991 when it presented 12 position papers and the bulk of the proposals won support. As a result, ICAO subsequently updated its guidance on airport charges. In its first five years, ACI doubled its membership in comparison to the previous constituent associations and recruited hundreds of new airports, effectively laying the foundations for the continued growth the organisation enjoys to this day. Other notable achievements included establishment of the ACI Fund for Developing Nations’ Airports in 1993; the launch of the ACI World Business Partners programme and opening of an ICAO liaison office in Montréal in 1994; and, playing an active role in ICAO’s Aviation Security (AVSEC) Panel and ICAO Panel of Experts on Air Navigation Services Economics in 1995. And ACI’s influence with ICAO continued to grow with the presentation of five position papers to its Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP) and a recommendation that ICAO consult with airports over the introduction of satellite based communications and air navigation technology (CNS/ATM) in 1998.
Evolution and innovation A decade on and ACI was well and truly established as one of the key players in the aviation industry. It began to spread its wings and innovate with the launch of the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) customer satisfaction programme in 2006 and the Airport Management Professional Accreditation Progamme (AMPAP) a year later.
The 2007 launch of AMPAP, in collaboration with ICAO, was without doubt a landmark achievement for ACI in terms of its global training initiatives. AMPAP team leader at the time, Paul Behnke said: “This programme is a real first in professional training for airports and it is the only international airport training that leads to accreditation. Thanks to ICAO’s buy in, the programme has a stamp that is recognised by aviation specialists worldwide.” Current ACI World director general, Angela Gittens, has this to say about the initiative: “Developing professionalism in airport management is a core priority for ACI. The Airport Management Professional Accreditation Programme (AMPAP), jointly launched and directed by ACI and ICAO, is a best-of-class programme for committed airport managers. “In today’s increasingly complex and global airport business, AMPAP offers a unique international context to expand their skills and broaden their horizons. At the same time, successful candidates will acquire an international support network of key professional contacts that will serve them throughout their careers.” More than 600 airport executives have since graduated from the three-year programme and gained the International Airport Professional (IAP) designation, which they hope will help them develop or progress in their careers in the aviation industry. ACI’s global training programmes have since gone from strength to strength and now provides dozens of different courses across the topics of economics; environment; facilitation and customer service; leadership and management; safety; and security. Another pioneering and hugely successful initiative pioneered by ACI Europe was launched in June 2009 – the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme. The scheme, which aims to reduce aviation’s impact on the environment by empowering airports to manage, reduce and ultimately neutralise their carbon footprint, has resulted in 159 airports becoming accredited to date.
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ACI director generals: 1991–2016 1991-1997: Oris Dunham
1997-2002: Jonathan Howe
Talking about the programme earlier this year, Dr Grant Kirkman of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – who is also on independent Advisory Board of the programme – commented: “It’s always good to see an industry being proactive of its own accord, but it’s even more impressive when those involved express and show real ambition in their activities. “Through their commitment to carbon neutrality and concrete climate action, airports demonstrate their contribution towards the achievement of the Paris agreement and the UNFCCC recognises Airport Carbon Accreditation as a robust framework for this contribution.” Another relatively new innovation introduced by ACI World is the Airport Excellence (APEX) in Safety programme, which was officially launched at the joint ACI NA/ACI World Assembly, Conference & Exhibition in Calgary in 2012. Speaking at the launch, ICAO’s chief of its Continuous Monitoring and Oversight Section, Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme, Henry Gourdji, said: “We believe that APEX in Safety has the potential to make a real difference in improving safety at airports worldwide. “It moves ACI into the realm of active safety management, a concept that ICAO is committed to and supports. We are looking forward to our continuing collaboration with ACI as the APEX in Safety initiative moves into full implementation phase.”
Move to Montréal To many, moving ACI World’s headquarters from Geneva to Montréal to be nearer to ICAO, IATA and CANSO reinvigorated the organisation and set the scene for the current chapter of success it enjoys today. The move was one of the missions Gittens was asked to oversee when she took the top job at ACI World in 2008, and without doubt it was the right decision as being in Montréal has allowed ACI to extend its global influence and grow as an organisation. Speaking at the office opening on May 3, 2011, Gittens stated: “The inauguration of our new headquarters in Montréal is an important milestone in our organisation’s development. We are confident that this move will enhance our ability to represent the interests of airport authorities to ICAO, its member states and its permanent delegations. “We will also be better able to co-ordinate our actions with ICAO’s initiatives in the areas of safety, security, environment and financial sustainability and strengthen our successful collaboration on training.” Collaboration and advocacy are certainly a top priority for ACI, as Gittens reflected on in Airport World in 2011. She said: “The association’s efforts still fulfill
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2002-2008: Robert Aaronson
2008-present: Angela Gittens
the original mandates of the founding members: gaining recognition for airport requirements and helping our members to achieve performance excellence. “Through our advocacy work, increasingly the airport voice is being recognised and our message heard: airports are businesses not government agencies; we are entrepreneurial and capital-intensive; we seek a flexible business and regulatory environment in which to evolve; we need greater cross-industry co-operation to achieve operational efficiencies; and we focus on delivering high-quality customer service. “We see the beneficial results of our advocacy efforts in all key areas including aerodrome safety, harmonised security standards, airspace and airport capacity management, environmental responsibility, and a balanced regulatory framework for airport economics and oversight.”
Annual conferences The very first ACI World Annual General Assembly (WAGA) was held in New Orleans in 1991 and those lucky enough to attend them have been treated to some truly incredible destinations and spectacular settings over the years. These have included Auckland, Bermuda, Buenos Aires, Boston, Calgary, Cape Town, Delhi, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, Lisbon, Madrid, Panama, Paris, Tokyo, Santiago, Seoul, Sydney and Washington DC. I am not sure if anyone has been to them all, but if there is they have certainly clocked up some air miles and learnt a lot about the challenges and opportunities facing the world’s airports.
The last word The last word on ACI goes to the late Dr Assad Kotaite, the former president of ICAO, who back in 2005 had this to say about the organisation: “I have said many times that the three pillars for civil aviation are ICAO, ACI and IATA. “ICAO is the regulator, respecting and relying on state sovereignty for implementation of standards and recommended practices. To accomplish this work, ICAO calls for international consultation with the two principle aviation partners ACI and IATA. The dialogue between them must be positive and constructive. “Let me suggest a metaphor. I would say that ICAO writes the script for states and their civil aviation authorities, ACI airports provide the stage where it all happens and IATA airline members are the international players on that stage. We must all work together to produce good results.” Wise words from a wise man! Let’s raise a glass to ACI, celebrate its considerable achievements and look forward to the next 25 years of success. AW
SPECIAL REPORT: ACI’s 25th ANNIVERSARY
Global influence ACI World’s deputy director general, Michael Rossell, reflects on the organisation’s close working relationship with ICAO and the importance of representing the interests of airports on the world stage.
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he relationship between ICAO and ACI has never been stronger and this is the direct result of hard work from ACI staff and the many members who have become part of ACI delegations on working groups, committees and at the all-important panels. In recent years ICAO has realised the importance of engagement with the airport industry, and ACI has responded positively by increasing its level of commitment to the ICAO process. ACI’s subject matter experts are seen as providing unbiased, authoritative information on a wide range of airport related topics. This success does not come overnight. We are approaching the 39th ICAO Assembly, which will take place in Montréal, Quebec, at the ICAO Headquarters from September 27 to October 7. It is expected to attract around 2,000 delegates from 191 Member States as well as representatives from other UN organisations, aviation industry representational organisations and from civil society. The Assemblies are held every three years, and meet to review progress made on a wide range of technical and policy issues. The key for ACI is that we have been part of the development of these issues over the years, so for the most part the Assembly is the formal adoption of Resolutions and working papers that already address airports’ concerns. The upcoming Assembly will set ICAO’s policy direction for the next three years and agree the budget that will provide most, but not all, the necessary resources. This provides an opportunity for ACI to support ICAO where it helps airports and to advance our agenda on a range of issues. Prominent among these will be economic regulation, where we will be looking for a light touch; landside security, where we will need to be clear where the respective responsibilities lie between airport and national authority; safety of operations, especially with respect to the newly amended Global Aviation Safety Plan; and environmental protection, as we look at how we can work with ICAO to deliver ambitious local and global emissions reductions, while also reducing the noise impact on communities around airports. And so, once the delegates return to their home States we will stay, and the work will continue. We will keep engaging with ICAO to ensure that airports can continue to influence how the global regulatory environment for airports develops over the next 25 years.
Timeline: ICAO milestones 1991–2016 1991 – ACI founded and makes an early impression at the ICAO Conference on Airport and Route Facility Management. 1994 – Opening of ACI Liaison Office with ICAO in Montréal. 1995 – ACI plays active role in the ICAO AVSEC Panel and ICAO Panel of Experts on Navigation Services Economics. 1998 – Influence with ICAO continues to grow with the presentation of five position papers to its Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP) and recommendation that ICAO consult with airports over the introduction of satellite based communications and air navigation technology (CNS/ATM). 2000 – ACI plays a major role in ICAO’s Conference of Airports and Air Navigation Services. 2006 – Roberto Kobeh becomes the first new president of ICAO for 30 years as Dr Assad Kotaite steps down. 2007 – In partnership with ICAO, ACI introduces the Airport Management Professional Accreditation Programme (AMPAP) to help develop the next generation of airport leaders and senior managers. 2008 – ACI supports ICAO Conference on the Economics of Airports and Air Navigation Services (CEANS), which sets the still current framework for airport charges. 2012 – ACI and ICAO sign a Memorandum of Cooperation on safety, preparing the way for ACI’s APEX in Safety. 2014 – ICAO holds its 20th Anniversary celebration in the former Stevens Hotel (now the Chicago Hilton) to commemorate the signing of the Chicago Convention. 2015 – ACI and ICAO sign a Memorandum of Understanding on security.
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Talking technology Antoine Rostworowski, ACI World’s director of airport customer experience and technology discusses the facilitationenhancing impact of IT.
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he aviation industry is expanding and becoming increasingly connected. Due to the rapid rate of innovative technologies entering the aviation marketplace, connectivity is increasing at an exponential rate. Travelling through airport environments can be stressful; possible flight delays, long queue lines, last minute shopping, fatigue and anxiety or fear of flying can contribute to certain negative sentiments. Information Technology (IT) is one of the main solutions for airports to constantly meet passengers and stakeholders’ needs. Moreover, IT has become the enabler of virtually all airport business processes. By implementing new IT solutions, it is possible to ensure that operational requirements are consistently, efficiently and reliably met during both peak operational periods and those of flight disruption. All of the ACI World IT initiatives are co-ordinated through the ACI World Airport IT Standing Committee (WAITSC), established by the ACI World Governing Board in April 2009. WAITSC main mission is to formulate Recommended Practices (RP) and develop guidelines, benchmarking and training materials to help airports find the best business solutions for themselves, their partners and their customers. With a look towards the future, WAITSC has created the Beacons Taskforce in response to the industry’s growing dependency on beacons Bluetooth low energy technology, that allow airports, airlines and other terminal operators to efficiently communicate with passengers and staff. The goals of the WAITSC Beacons Taskforce is to promote a shared beacon infrastructure to reduce the cost and complexity of deployment throughout an airport; to introduce standard beacons types; to propose a business model framework for beacons usage; to provide best installation architecture; and to implement a Common Use Beacons registry. The WAITSC Beacons Taskforce has created a set of RPs that provide guidance on the deployment and usage of airport terminal beacons. The document provides essential information needed to configure, implement and manage airport beacons throughout the air terminal, as well as the technical and managerial information needed to deliver and adequately deploy a beacon service.
The WAITSC Beacons Taskforce has been working with a variety of representatives of the air transport industry to ensure that all perspectives from diverse stakeholders are well represented. This joint ACI-International Aviation Transport Association (IATA) RP is now available and will be formalised by ACI during the ACI North America/World Annual General Assembly in Montréal and by IATA in the early part of 2017. In response to the growing threat of cyber-attacks around the world, WAITSC has also created a Cybersecurity Taskforce whose mandate is to engage and educate airports on the issues of cybersecurity; define a strategy to help protect airports against cyber-attacks; and, in such an event, assist in mitigation efforts to protect airports. ACI World is pleased to announce that an IT Cybersecurity Benchmark tool will soon be available to airport members and World Business Partners worldwide. Once an assessment is completed by an airport the benchmark will provide a summary score for each of the following control areas as well as an over-all score for the airport. These results will be of great help to participating airports in order to identify and prioritise action plans and needs for improvement. As innovative technologies continue to impact the aviation industry, WAITSC will continue to co-ordinate with partners and stakeholders to assist airports in improving the passenger experience through IT solutions. ACI is committed to supporting its member airports and helping them develop innovative, passenger centric environments that make the overall travel experience more relevant, personalised and agreeable. AW
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Striving for excellence Dimitri Coll, head of Airport Service Quality (ASQ), tells us more about the growth and development of ACI’s customer satisfaction benchmarking programme.
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CI’s Airport Service Quality (ASQ) programme is the world’s leading airport customer service measurement and benchmarking tool. The programme identifies and disseminates best practice methodology from the top-performing airports around the world and provides input to airports in all regions that seek more effective, efficient and profitable ways of serving the flying public. ACI World’s 25th Anniversary also coincides with ASQ’s 10th birthday and we are proud to report that ASQ research is in place in airports that serve more than half the world’s 7.1 billion annual passengers. In 2015, the programme had the highest number of participants ever recorded at 318 airports worldwide. Participation in the programme now stretches across some 80 countries and the ASQ questionnaire is currently available in 40 languages, a figure that highlights ASQ’s commitment to improving customer experience at airports regardless of location. The ASQ programme is growing from strength to strength and has gained great momentum. As with all of the services ACI offers to the global airport industry, we actively and continually encourage commercial airports of all sizes and from every region of the world to become involved. Behind the scene, the ASQ department is continuously building its internal team, to help facilitate our growing membership, strengthen our core programmes and develop future products and services. At the turn of the New Year, the ASQ Subcommittee was created as an official part of the ACI World Facilitation and Services Standing Committee. Within the ASQ Subcommittee, several specific taskforces have been formed to ensure the robust development of future services that will be able to accommodate the ever changing landscapes of airport management requirements. ASQ is helping to shape a deeper understanding of what drives passenger satisfaction worldwide. While the core programme has remained relatively unchanged, what has evolved are the tools available to help airports analyze the data generated.
With these enhanced tools comes the opportunity to draw more profound conclusions which can inform strategic decisions and ultimately lead to a better passenger experience. Given the growth of the ASQ programme, the 2015 results have expanded to include the new category of ‘Best Airport by Size and Region; and, a more extensive winners’ list has allowed several airports to tie in respective categories. ASQ has statistically validated the winners to ensure accuracy; as such, a tie indicates that no statistical difference has been found between the scores of two or more airports. These enhancements effectively highlight the high proportion of worldwide airports that are focusing on customer service as a means of fostering traveler loyalty in an increasingly competitive environment. The first of three yearly ASQ forums, has already successfully taken place in Brisbane, Australia in April 2016. The other two ASQ forums will be taking place Guayaquil (Ecuador), and Naples (Italy), in November 2016 respectively. We invite our airport members and World Business Partners to join us as we share best practices in the latest customer experience initiatives. The forums have been designed from the ground up for delegates who want to develop a deeper understanding of their customers’ wants and needs with the end goal of crafting a passenger service strategy that not only meets expectations, but also exceeds them.
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SPECIAL REPORT: ACI’s 25th ANNIVERSARY
The data machine In a highly sophisticated and competitive market such as the airport sector, data matters, writes ACI World’s director of economics and programme development, Stefano Baronci.
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ne of the strategic objectives of ACI is to promote knowledge exchange and support ACI’s regions and airport members to engage with regional and national legislators, regulators and other key stakeholders. The major functions of ACI Economics and Statistics are to gather, analyse and disseminate airport traffic and economic data. By maintaining close contact with thousands of airports across the globe we are able to provide our members with various reports on both an annual and monthly basis. This information then provides the foundation for many different evidence-based educational presentations, policy development and various other purposes. Our continuously expanding catalogue of statistics is relied upon by the other departments of ACI World, the regional offices and a multitude of ACI members and World Business Partners. Whether used to justify ACI’s interests at ICAO or provide comparisons with ASQ data, the deliverables of this department advance the interests of the world’s airports and the communities that they serve. The airport traffic statistics that ACI generates are not only used to create insightful industry analyses in the form of reports, but are also available as unrivalled data sets for public purchase. In September 2016, the latest version of ACI’s flagship publication, the ACI Annual World Airport Traffic Report, will be released with comprehensive data coverage from over 2,300 airports throughout the world. It remains the authoritative source and industry reference for data, analyses of trends, indicators and rankings on airport traffic. Indeed, exhaustive coverage of airport data is presented by the main thematic areas of passenger traffic, air cargo volumes and aircraft movements in an internationally comparable format to provide our readership with a global view of air transport demand. The newest ACI World Airport Traffic Forecast (WATF) is also in the pipeline. Forecasts are a crucial ingredient in airport planning in regards to determining future capacity requirements. Since infrastructure projects are costly and involve many resources, a data-driven understanding of future demand, such as the expected number of aircraft movements, passenger traffic
throughput and air cargo volumes, give airport planners and investors the necessary lens for effective decision-making. The WATF data set presents aggregate airport traffic projections at global, regional and national levels based on internationally comparable airport traffic data. Short, medium and long-term forecasts are included in the dataset for the years 2016 to 2040. The ACI Airport Economics Report provides an invaluable measure of the airport industry’s financial and economic performance based on an annual data survey of the world’s airports. Its companion, the ACI Airport Key Performance Indicators, provides insight into areas ranging from financial and employee performance to fixed-asset productivity and airport operations. The complete package of indicators presents quantifiable barometers of industry activity for airport managers, analysts, investors and other aviation stakeholders. In the future, different methods of collaboration will lead to a widening use of ACI statistics. By expanding and increasing efficiency – just like the airports we report on do – we are creating new data management tools to better verify, analyse and publish the figures we collect. Partnerships with other aviation and data dissemination organisations are also part of our plan to maintain the constantly AW growing scope and excellence of our data and publications.
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SPECIAL REPORT: ACI’s 25th ANNIVERSARY
Going green Juliana Scavuzzi, ACI World’s aviation environment specialist, considers the importance of sustainable development.
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he aviation industry evolves quickly; its growing demand must keep up with the latest technology in an environmentally sustainable manner. Over the last quarter century, ACI, together with its member airports and World Business Partners have evolved in step with the industry. Our environmental initiatives promote aviation and airport sustainable development, limiting or reducing environmental impacts while supporting economic and social benefits. ACI works alongside its members and the rest of the aviation industry and international organisations such as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). ICAO has developed through the work of its Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP) and with the collaboration of ACI experts (ACI is an official observer of CAEP), the Airport Planning Manual; Guidance on the Balanced Approach to Aircraft Noise Management; Airport Air Quality Manual; Report on Environmental Management Systems; and standards for both noise and NOx that have become increasingly stringent. ACI has developed several tools and programmes to promote environmental and sustainable practices. For instance, the Airport Carbon and Emissions Reporting Tool (ACERT) developed in partnership with Transport Canada has been wildly successful in assisting airports to independently manage their Greenhouse Gas Inventory without the need of specialised expertise. ACI has recently released ACERT version 3.2, while version 4.0 is currently under development. We are also developing a tutorial to assist member airports to better use ACERT. The Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) programme, developed by ACI Europe in 2009, certifies airports that are able to monitor and/or reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. As ACI celebrates its 25th Anniversary, we are proud to report that 161 airports have been accredited worldwide, representing 31.3 % of global air passenger traffic. ACA’s sixth year will be responsible for saving 212,460 tonnes of CO2 emissions in Europe alone, which is the equivalent to the annual CO2 sequestered by 1,495 acres of forest. The ACI World Environment Standing Committee (WESC) alongside with the ACI regional environment committees have worked together to develop ACI environmental policy and best practices on several position briefs concerning various environmental issues, including noise and community engagement, local air quality, water quality and waste management.
The WESC convenes every nine months and will have its next meeting in Hong Kong at the beginning of 2017 for its 35th meeting since the committee’s inception. ACI has also developed a series of publications on environment in order to better assist airport members in dealing with environmental issues, namely the ACI Airport Greenhouse Gas Emission Manual, the Managing the Impacts of Aviation Noise in collaboration with the Civil Air Navigation Services Organization and the ACI Wildlife Hazard Management Handbook. More publications are planned for the near future. ACI’s Global Training has also been assisting airports through the ACI Developing Nations Assistance (DNA) Programme. A specific environmental training using DNA funds is planned for the 25th ACI Africa Annual General Assembly, Regional Conference and Exhibition in Maputo, Mozambique, on October 17–23, 2016. Last but by no means least, ACI is aligned with the aviation industry through the Air Transport Action Group that has set goals for this industry to become carbon neutral from 2020 and to reduce by 50% its CO2 emissions by 2050, considering 2005 as a baseline. These are not small commitments and they certainly come with challenges to face, particularly considering the expected growth of aviation at a 4.3% annually rate in the two decades to come. ACI is ready to face these challenges through independent initiatives AW and through collaboration with our trusted partners.
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SPECIAL REPORT: ACI’s 25th ANNIVERSARY
Safety first Danny Boutin, ACI World’s senior manager, APEX programmes, discusses airport excellence in safety.
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he creation of ACI’s Airport Excellence (APEX) in Safety was conceived under ACI’s mission of promoting airport excellence. The programme was designed to provide assistance for ACI members to improve their level of safety and compliance with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Standards and Recommended Practices. It offers host airports an on-site safety review performed by the ACI Safety Review Team, consisting of active airport professionals. The team identifies safety gaps and develops an action/ implementation plan to address these gaps, helping the host airport achieve certification if need be. ACI also assists throughout the implementation phase by providing support, training and access to a global network of expertise. Since the programme’s launch in 2011, we have had close to 60 reviews performed worldwide and have built a pool of over 130 safety assessors from over 60 different airports and international organisations. Coming from different regions and different size airports ranging from 100,000 to over 90 million passengers a year, the APEX assessors contribute immensely to the success of the programme by sharing their knowledge and promoting airport safety management excellence. This year, APEX has been tackling many new initiatives. In March 2016, we launched the APEX Safety Assessor Training programme for the African region, where selected candidates are trained to become accredited APEX assessors. This will enable them to join the APEX team on missions to selected airports and will contribute to creating expertise in the region. The first course will take place in the third quarter of 2016 and extend to other regions in the years to come. As APEX continues to grow, we have sought new collaborations. For instance, the World Bank fully financed the APEX review in Cairo, Egypt, in May 2015, and also sponsored the progress review of the action plan created in April 2016. This collaboration resulted in many good opportunities for our membership and we look forward in continuing this important co-operation. A partnership agreement was also signed with the European Aviation Safety Agency who will provide funding assistance in
Central and West Africa so that airports in developing countries can benefit from the programme. ACI has also trialled an APEX in Security Pilot Review in Mauritius earlier this year and we are pleased to report that it was a great success. With the growing interest in peer reviews, this pilot demonstrated that other areas need to be explored, such as environment and information technology. Looking ahead, APEX will be placing more emphasis on data collection. While remaining confidential, collected data from our missions will help identify safety gaps and areas of improvement in each of the regions, enabling ACI to better target the needs for assistance and create the most appropriate training. It will also provide valuable information for the ACI Safety and Technical Standing Committee to evaluate the need for handbooks and other tools such as best practices for the benefit of the industry at large. As we tackle the next quarter century, APEX will continue to promote excellence and ensure that airports grow stronger, together.
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SPECIAL REPORT: ACI’s 25th ANNIVERSARY
Making a difference Developing people and airports is in ACI’s DNA, explains Kevin Caron, head of Global Training & Developing Nations Airport Assistance Programme.
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s airport professionals, we understand the value of continuing education and the essential role it plays in advancing safe, secure and sustainable leadership in the development of airports. For ACI Global Training (GT), keeping abreast of current and upcoming change has been the ingredient to providing a diverse range of high quality, accessible and relevant academic courses and diplomas in the areas of safety, security, leadership and management, economics, environment, facilitation and customer service. As we celebrate ACI World’s 25th Anniversary, GT is also celebrating 10 years for the delivery of the first ACI John Molson School of Business Airport Executive Leadership Programme (AELP) along with the development of the Global ACI-International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Airport Management Professional Accreditation Programme (AMPAP). These programmes have led to continued success in providing education programmes to our airport members and World Business Partners. In the last decade, we delivered over 800 courses to more than 12,000 students worldwide. Furthermore, our Online Learning Centre, which provides web-based courses, saw more than 15,000 students use this learning platform, translating into over 60,000 hours of online training. AELP continues to attract CEOs and executive senior management to develop the airport leaders of tomorrow. As of the end of 2015, 539 International Airport Professionals (IAPs) and 27 Associates have graduated from AMPAP. The Global Safety Network (GSN) Diploma Programme has already helped over 200 graduates advance their careers in airport safety. More importantly, since the inception of the ACI Developing Nations Airports Assistance Programme (ACI-DNA) in 2013, GT has delivered over 29 standalone complimentary seminars to almost 1,000 students from 72 different developing and least developed countries. We have also expanded the scope of ACI-DNA’s activities to grant scholarships to our members attending GT courses, further facilitating access to training and capacity-building resources for our members. At the same time, the demand for specialised in-house training under ACI-DNA has also grown significantly. In 2016 alone, we are set to deliver four workshops in the African region (Mauritania, Senegal, Chad and Togo) and one in the Asia-Pacific region (Mongolia).
Finally, ACI-DNA has also subsidised training activities in conjunction with ACI’s APEX Programmes following the completion of APEX in Safety reviews. Looking ahead, we will focus on strengthening GT’s role as a leading airport training provider in partnership with our training centres, faculty, GT Steering Group and various ACI committees. We hope to enhance our strong relationship with ICAO to develop more joint ACI-ICAO course offerings. In addition, we will continue to collaborate with other aviation partners to expand our existing courses into additional languages. GT will also explore the possibility of diversifying our training programmes by offering new courses through the ACI Accredited Training Institutes. And through the DNA Programme, we will ensure continued support for the Airport Excellence (APEX) Safety Assessor Training programme. As you would expect GT will continue to explore new methods by which to support ACI members in better defining what leadership, management and operational/technical skills are required for them to meet their strategic plans. As our dynamic aviation industry continues to change rapidly, GT is proud to play a significant role in educating the current and future generation of airport professionals.
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SPECIAL REPORT: ACI’s 25th ANNIVERSARY
Never standing still ACI World’s head of security, Nina Brooks, reflects on the organisation’s security goals, industry challenges and new initiatives designed to make the world’s airports safer.
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here is no doubt that the threat from terrorism is changing and that airports remain high profile targets as the terror attacks in Brussels and Istanbul earlier this year have demonstrated. It goes without saying that maintaining the safety and security of the travelling public is the top priority for airports and it involves multiple layers of integrated processes and technologies to detect threats and/or mitigate risks. The changing variables of threat, growing passenger numbers and limitations on resources calls for a paradigm shift towards a genuinely risk managed approach and a collaborative effort between all stakeholders. The key activities being undertaken by ACI all contribute to addressing these challenges. The joint International Aviation Transport Association (IATA)/ACI Smart Security programme provides an example of how a more sustainable, efficient and effective passenger screening process can be implemented to strengthen security, increase operational efficiency and improve the passenger experience. One of the next key items on the agenda is to conduct further research into how different methods of risk-based differentiation can be best applied. Other technologies are also being tested such as automated systems to further enhance the screener’s threat detection capability. With recent attacks on the public areas of airports in Brussels and Istanbul, the need to protect landside areas has once again been brought sharply into focus. More screening is not the answer; moving queues to other areas of the terminal simply shifts the vulnerability. However, removing queues and crowds makes the target far less attractive. ACI plans to work with IATA on the smarter design of processes that reduce passenger touchpoints and eliminate queues throughout the passenger journey. Alongside this project, we will also continue to work collaboratively with the ACI regions to develop guidance material in support of landside security, including behaviour detection, surveillance and security culture, as well as advocating for better intelligence and information sharing. Our capacity building activities help to ensure that all of the layers of security are applied globally and consistently. A solid risk management approach, good training and a robust security culture is needed everywhere. By raising the bar on security in all airports, the overall system becomes more secure and efficient as additional measures such as
gate screening for specific flights and the rescreening of transfer passengers can start to be eliminated. Aimed specifically at airports, ACI World has recently completed the first pilot of its Airport Excellence (APEX) in Security initiative and hopes to be able to launch the programme in full early next year. The intention of the programme is to enable airports in need of assistance to benefit from the experience of others. Through actively working with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and its key working groups of the Aviation Security Panel, ACI will be able to represent airport interests and advocate for regulation that takes into account airports’ needs and limitations. This is a key area of work and we will continue to contribute actively to ICAO standards, recommended practices and guidance material. The development of airport best practices and provision of training enables us to support capacity building efforts. This will be a priority in coming years, enabling ACI to broaden its outreach and help airports to implement the most appropriate measures for their environment. ACI’s strategy in security, focusing on the delivery of best practices, capacity building and collaboration between airport, airline and government stakeholders, aims to create a more sustainable and well-rounded security system that meets the needs of our airports for the future.
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SPECIAL REPORT: ACI’s 25th ANNIVERSARY
In safe hands David Gamper, ACI World’s director of safety, technical and legal affairs looks at the next aerodrome safety and design issues.
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or the past 25 years ACI has advocated for airport safety issues, culminating in the successful Airport Excellence in Safety programme (see on page 37) and our engagement, of course, continues. For airfield design issues, ACI has worked to ensure the smooth accommodation of new aircraft types and make aerodrome certification an easier process for States and aerodrome operators. The document of reference, ICAO Annex 14 Volume 1 (Annex 14), presents a large number of mainly prescriptive standards for the design of aerodromes, according to aerodrome reference codes 1 to 4 (i.e. aircraft reference field length) and A to F (i.e. wingspan and main-gear wheel-span). We have worked with regulators to produce guidance documents on how to accommodate specific aircraft types such as the A380 and the B747-8, and are now working on the B777X, with folding wingtips. ACI has influenced the code limits themselves, notably by pointing out the high cost of accommodating wingspans over 80 metres. As a result the upper limit of code F was kept at 80 metres and no new larger code has been introduced. ACI has resisted any increase of code limits, since that would put many airports into non-conformance with the code to which they were built. We have also helped shape the approach in the Procedures for Air Navigation Services – Aerodromes (PANS-Aerodromes), published in 2015 and applicable in November 2016. As a result, regulators now have a path to certify an aerodrome that does not fully conform to an aerodrome reference code, or which has been modified to accept aircraft of a larger code than it was designed for, which is a very common situation. ACI has drafted a set of standard aerodrome procedures that should be adopted next year in the second part of the PANS-Aerodromes. The organisation has supported two major amendments to Annex 14 that were approved by the ICAO Council this year: Reduced taxiway separations and other changes (effective November 2016), and the global runway condition reporting format (effective November 2020). ACI has fought strongly for the reduction of taxiway separations, basing this on safety data from studies of deviations from the centre line during taxiing. These changes (up to 6.5 metres reduction) are expected to give airports additional flexibility to accommodate larger aircraft on more taxi routes, as well as reduce the cost of new construction. Another major change is a new method of assessing runwaybraking action on contaminated runways, no longer based on
the coefficient of friction, which changes constantly and is dependent on the depth of contamination and the equipment taking the reading. ACI will help with training and guidance material to ensure a smooth roll-out of the new method which is based on the type and depth of contamination, augmented by pilot reports. The next phase of ICAO action – that ACI has championed – focuses on other airfield dimensions such as runway width, taxiway width and runway-taxiway separation as well as obstacle limitation surfaces. All of these dimensions could be reduced, again based on compelling safety data, as well as the capabilities of aircraft. ACI is helping to build consensus around a proposal. ACI is also looking at how to restructure Annex 14 to make its provisions for aerodrome design more understandable and remove operational issues, which will be covered in the PANS-Aerodromes. Another important piece of work nearing completion is the switch to a new design method for flexible pavement, based on a multi-layer elastic model – this is a more accurate way of modelling the behaviour of asphalt pavement. In its own way, this change will be as important as the change in runway friction reporting, and will necessitate training for airport design staff. Lastly, ACI has added to its series of safety publications, putting forward best practices for airport operators. These now include the ACI Apron Safety Handbook, ACI Runway Safety Handbook, ACI Safety Management Systems Handbook, Emergency Preparedness and Contingency Planning Handbook, ACI Wildlife Hazard Management Handbook and Apron Markings and Signs Handbook.
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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Zhengzhou takes off John Kasarda tells us more about the exciting plans to create a dynamic economic zone around Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport in China’s Henan Province.
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hina’s mushrooming air traffic has led to an airport construction boom than in the last five years alone has led to more than $43 billion being invested in modernising and expanding existing airports and building new ones. More than $12 billion is being expended in 2016 and this annual amount is expected to grow. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) reports that 66 new airports will come on line by 2021, including major ones in Beijing, Chengdu, Dalian, Qingdao, and Xiamen. CAAC also reports that 52 of the mainland’s 206 current commercial airports will receive significant upgrades. It would be a mistake, however, to assume that such huge investments are being made solely to meet the nation’s expanding aviation capacity needs as China’s leaders view their airports much more broadly than just air transit infrastructure required to move growing volumes of passengers and cargo. Indeed, they also consider airports to be industrial magnets and strategic infrastructure to capture 21st century global business. As a result, the nation has fully embraced what it calls the ‘Airport Economy’ model with over 90 airports presently containing or planning some form of airport economic zone.
Zhengzhou’s dynamic zone The largest and arguably most ambitious of these is the 415 square kilometre Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone (ZAEZ) being developed on and around Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport (CGO), about an hour’s flight from Beijing and Shanghai. The ZAEZ represents a pioneering collaborative effort among China’s central government, Henan Province (105 million residents)
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and Zhengzhou city (9 million residents) to generate economic transformation, global integration and greater prosperity for the province and its capital city. These objectives are being accomplished by establishing an international air logistics hub at CGO, modernising and expanding its passenger and air cargo facilities, and developing surrounding clusters of high-end manufacturing and advanced business service industries. Together with integrated surface transportation infrastructure, Western-style education institutions, and new urban centres, an aerotropolis (airport-centred urban economic region) is being created to become a dynamic growth pole for central China’s economic advancement. In less than six years since being established as a bonded zone and airport city, the ZAEZ has experienced remarkable growth in industrial investment, economic output and trade volumes. Leading this growth is Foxconn, the contract manufacturer for Apple’s iPhones. Some 250,000 workers at Foxconn’s immense ZAEZ factory complex produced over 100 million iPhones last year accounting for nearly 80% of all iPhones sold globally. Another 16 smartphone manufacturers operating in the zone brought total output in 2015 to nearly 150 million units, making it the world’s largest single site for smartphone production. Numerous other high-end manufacturers in electronics; information and communications technology; biomedicine; and business services sectors have invested in the ZAEZ. In fact, since 2013, over 50 industrial projects have been completed, bringing total fixed investment to more than $20 billion in 2016. Value added by large scale industries reached $5.2 billion in 2015 with the zone’s GDP growing at an annual compound rate of 49% during the past five years.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT The airport is ZAEZ’s engine
Combined ZAEZ imports and exports reached $7 billion in 2015, which ranked it second in trade among China’s bonded and free trade zones. The vast majority of economic activity to date has been concentrated in a 160-square kilometre Airport District that includes 48 square kilometres or 18.5 square miles of land either at or immediately around the gateway. The Airport District contains ZAEZ’s bonded zone where Foxconn and other smart phone assemblers are located along with aviationoriented sectors such as time-critical manufacturing and distribution, aircraft components production and a 1.2 square kilometre cool-chain logistics park that hosts meat, fresh flowers and a pharmaceutical/ biomedical ports. The Airport District has attracted German IAS Aircraft Interiors, Mooney Aircraft Manufacturing, and Sino-France General Aviation Aircraft Manufacturing while China Post, DHL, Prologis, TNT-Sinotrans, UPS and SF-Express are among the 50 express carriers, freight forwarders and 3PLs that operate in this district. Also present are e-commerce firms such as Suning E-Commerce, and the Henan cross-border electronic business platform. The B2B Zhoushi International Supply Chain Management Company fills an average of 200,000 orders daily with up to 500,000 orders on peak days. South of the Airport District is the 155 square kilometre High-End Manufacturing District primarily geared to biomedicine, precision and advanced manufacturing, IT and ICT equipment, R&D and the production of new aerospace equipment materials such as carbon-fibre composites, polymers, and ceramics. A 100 square kilometre Urban Services District, located north of the Airport District, is targeted for modern business services such as aircraft leasing and finance; scientific and knowledge-intensive functions such as software engineering; cultural and leisure facilities; and mixed-used commercial/residential areas with urban amenities for executives, professionals and knowledge-workers. Facilities in the latter include an international K-12 academy that opened in the autumn of 2015 with a university-like campus, Englishlanguage teachers, and curricula based on Silicon Valley schools.
Powering the ZAEZ is Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport (CGO), designated as one of eight national Category 1 airports in China. Today CGO serves as the Asia hub for Cargolux Airlines as well as a focus airport for China Southern and Shenzhen Airlines. Its strategic location at the geographic centre of China’s population provides airlines with the shortest average flight times to major domestic markets, 60% of which can be reached in less than 90 minutes. More than 50 airlines currently serve 97 cities from the gateway, the total including 17 international passenger destinations and 27 all-cargo routes. Both air cargo and passenger growth have been phenomenal in recent years, freight volumes soaring from 85,800 to 403,000 tonnes per annum between 2010 and 2015 while passenger numbers increased from 8.7 million to 17.3 million over the same period. The figures represent staggering average annual growth rates of 36% for cargo and 15% for passenger traffic. Indeed, CGO has been China’s fastest-growing cargo airport percentage-wise for each of the last four years and became the nation’s fastest growing passenger airport (percent growth) in 2014. The rapid rise of CGO’s cargo and passenger volumes stimulated a $2.7 billion airport infrastructure and facilities expansion programme that began in December 2012 and now is nearing completion. It has added a new 360,000sqm Terminal 2, second runway and 500,000 square feet of cargo facilities. The new terminal, opened in December 2015, boasts 71 passenger aircraft parking bays and nine dedicated freighter bays. These additions bring Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport’s annual passenger capacity to 29 million and its cargo capacity to 600,000 tonnes. The upgrade also involves the addition of a new 283,000sqm multi-modal ground transportation centre integrated with Terminal 2. Set to open later this year, it will have transit and parking areas for buses and taxis and underground halls for subways and high-speed intercity trains converging on CGO. The arrival of the latter is expected to significantly extend the airport’s catchment area. The long-term airport master plan (through 2040) shows CGO with five runways, one of which will be dedicated to air cargo, four passenger terminals and additional cargo facilities. This will expand the airport’s passenger capacity to 70 million annually and cargo to over three million metric tons annually. A modernising and expanding CGO powering the ZAEZ provides concrete testimony that well-designed and well-supported airports can drive remarkable economic development. But such outcomes require more than a ‘build it and they will come’ approach. Development as represented by the ZAEZ also requires systematic integration of airport planning, surface transportation planning, business site planning, and urban planning reinforced by strong and enduring commitments by all levels AW of government.
About the author John Kasarda, PhD, directs the Center for Air Commerce at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and is chief adviser to the Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone. He may be contacted at kasarda@aerotropolisbusinessconcepts.aero or john_kasarda@unc.edu
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MASTER PLANNING
Landing revenue Landrum & Brown’s Brian Reed and Sheila Thomas reflect on the opportunities, risks and challenges to gateways of creating non-aviation related developments on or around the airport site.
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irport owners across the world are recognising the potential of generating non-aeronautical related revenue on land once set aside for future infrastructure. Indeed, as overall development expands beyond the airport site and as surrounding landowners develop their property, the recognition of regional land use planning beyond traditional noise and environmental compatibility and ground access planning becomes increasingly important. Further, realisation that airports are economic engines for the communities they serve causes airport owners to recognise other responsibilities to their communities. Therefore, it is worthwhile to assess the key factors of success, and how they may apply. During our global work on various airport master plans, airport-vicinity land use plans and aerotropolis planning, we have found overwhelming evidence supporting what we know about non-aviation revenue developments on and near airports, and what it takes to make them succeed.
Demand is the key to success Cities create demand for airports; airport activity in turn creates demand for related and catalytic activities throughout the airport’s region. Arguably, the most successful examples of collateral development are those that evolved spontaneously in response to existing regional demand. With the maturation of airports that were developed to serve important cities, the industries and populations that initially created the need for those airports also drove the demand for adjacent development.
This has been the case for developments surrounding LAX, Chicago O’Hare, Toronto Pearson and New York–JFK airports. None of these refer to themselves as an aerotropolis, however, their levels of development and property values highlight their success at attracting collateral non-aviation activity.
Location, location, location Regional demand does not translate directly to demand within an airport’s vicinity. Demand is location sensitive. Adjacency to transportation implies convenience of access, but adjacency to major transportation facilities also includes living in the shadow of negative impacts such as noise, pollution and congestion. Economic benefits flow to and from the greater region, while negative impacts sit within adjacent boundaries. This creates a halo effect of benefits and a shadow effect of impacts. Consequently, some of the great global cities, with the highest passenger and cargo activity, lack airport-adjacent demand. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta, for example, is the world’s busiest airport in both passengers and total aircraft operations, home to one the largest global airlines (Delta) and 13 Fortune 500 headquarters yet the area directly adjacent to the airport has great capacity for further economic development.
Greenfield airports Greenfield airports far from central business district (CBD) invariably have a lower population density, as the very nature of their development often requires them to be built sufficiently away from city centres so as to minimise their noise impact.
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MASTER PLANNING
Cities that have developed a second or relocated airport have done so because the original was constricted by adjacent development. Care should be taken not to repeat this at the new airport This is preferable for aircraft movements, but not for adjacent development. If regional population growth expands toward the airport, demand may occur more quickly. But if not, it may take decades to develop. Replacement or relocation airports such as Denver, Incheon, ShanghaiPudong and Tokyo Narita are world airports serving major metropolitan regions, yet each has seen slow growth in airport-adjacent development.
Special economic zones, public-private partnerships, conditional use agreements and tax breaks have all been used to coax developers and businesses into the planned areas. Hubstart Paris’s training programmes, the Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) and the tax incentives offered to Porsche by the Atlanta Aerotropolis Alliance are examples of incentives used to refocus and increase airport-vicinity activity.
Creating demand where there is none is possible
Getting the planning right
Both Las Vegas and Dubai were deserts, and not the destination oases they are now. Absent any sense of place or desirability as destinations, the visionaries behind them used money and connections to create something where there was nothing. In both cases, they were decades in development and there was an ongoing effort to attract interest and activity from elsewhere in order to fabricate totally new destinations. Initially, the airport was not central to the success of Las Vegas. But the convenience of air travel facilitated greater patronage. Dubai was similarly isolated, and needed the airport to bring significant numbers of visitors to a location lacking a large population. Today, these cities are major destinations and financially successful, one on a regional scale and the other globally.
Airport-conscious planning does not necessarily mean airport-centric planning. The key factors are connectivity and compatibility. The best planned and the most successful spontaneously developed projects rely on functional connectivity and access. Airport corridors frame the locations and determine the forms of airport-collateral development. Such developments may occur in zones between the airport and the CBD or radiate along regional corridors to other activity nodes. This occurs where there is no available land adjacent to the airport for development or when demand and compatibility are greater at other locations. Differing costs of available property along the primary corridors may occur randomly throughout an area, creating pockets of opportunity in a series of discontinuous nodes. Not easily contained within a normal plan, these pockets can be linked together through physical corridors and alliance organisations. In the areas between Detroit-Wayne County and Willow Run airports, for example, VantagePort aerotropolis aims to create a transportation, logistics and manufacturing hub. While Hubstart Paris is refocusing from spontaneous, demanddriven uses to planned development in the space between ParisCharles de Gaulle and Paris-Le Bourget.
Successful airport-vicinity development Success requires local as well as regional demand, along with a clear vision and shared objectives that are supported by political policy, financial investment and social sentiment. Yet, having these elements is not enough. Without the right timing and strategic support, results may be slow and less-than-desired. Existing or evolving competition can also affect the degree of success. The ideal planning and implementation sequence will vary by circumstances and culture. Where stakeholders have common objectives for development (increased employment, new industries, for instance) forming alliances for support may come ahead of the planning process. The Aerotropolis: KZN for Durban’s King Shaka International Airport is one of the most thoroughly developed plans, well-supported politically and socially, yet its development has been very slow.
Development plans need to be physical and strategic Planned collateral development occurs within artificially created boundaries. For reality to follow the planner’s dream, proponents need to provide incentives that focus the developments where they want them. To create or refocus development demand that is consistent with physical plans, there really needs to be an alliance of stakeholders with shared objectives. And this alliance needs to define and execute strategic implementation steps, usually involving financial incentives.
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Development risks Adjacent non-aeronautical development may be at the expense of future airport expansion. Cities that have developed a second or relocated airport have done so because the original was constricted by adjacent development. Care should be taken not to repeat this at the new airport. It is, after all, all too easy for authorities to feel that their job is done when the new airport opens, yet this is clearly not the case as major cities such as New York, London, Los Angeles and Paris have discovered as each is served by multiple commercial airports due to constantly rising demand.
Conclusion Airport owners have differing needs and desires for on-airport, nonaviation development and adjacent land planning with development. It is important to understand how development occurs and what an owner can do to maximise the position of the airport.
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AIR TRANSPORT IT SUMMIT
Living in a digital world Blockchain technology was one of many high-tech initiatives under the microscope at this year’s Air Transport IT Summit, writes Joe Bates.
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ew blockchain technology and its potential to allow passengers to use a single token to travel through airports and across borders in the future was the hot topic at this year’s Air Transport IT Summit. It is believed that the revolutionary technology could allow secure biometric authentication of passengers throughout their journey and eliminate the need for multiple travel documents without passengers having to share their personal data. SITA’s technology research team, SITA Lab, is currently researching how using virtual or digital passports in the form of a single secure token on mobile and wearable devices could reduce complexity, cost and liability around document checks during the passenger journey. “Our vision is for seamless secure travel, but the underlying design of today’s computer systems means that there are multiple exchanges of data between various agencies and multiple verification steps, which reduces the ability to have a single global system,” said SITA’s chief technology officer, Jim Peters. “Now blockchain technology offers us the potential to provide a new way of using biometrics. It could enable biometrics to be used across borders, and at all airports, without the passenger’s details being stored by the various authorities.” And according to its backers, all this can be done without government agencies ever controlling or storing your biometric details as the required data is encrypted and stored on the mobile device of the traveller and never leaves their phone. “When you read headlines like 60 million user IDs stolen from Sony and others about different companies getting hacked and all their customer information and credit card details being stolen, the way forward clearly isn’t to create a big database with everyone’s biometric details on it that becomes a honeypot for hackers to go after,” adds Peters. “So, what you are using the blockchain for is to verify that the data on your phone has not been changed and that it has been certified. You control the data and whenever you want to use it your
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phone interacts with and acts a key for infrastructure such as a bag drop station, boarding gate or immigration gate. “We are not there yet, and the big issue will be how do we get all this infrastructure to communicate with so many different devices as it doesn’t happen today.” He is, however, convinced that technology like blockchain will become reality and as a result mean that in 20 years’ time it might be possible to walk straight from the kerb to the gate without stopping to queue at any airport checkpoint. Explaining the single travel token concept, Sean Farrell, SITA’s head of portfolio management, government solutions, said: “The single token travel concept and Smart Path, which is basically our product portfolio, essentially involves rolling the passenger’s information as soon as you can in the travel process. “This means capturing their travel documents and validating it. Checking their identity by confirming their biometrics in their travel documents and also validating their right to be on-board the aircraft in the form of their barcoded boarding pass, and then attaching the information to the live biometric that has been captured, and letting the passenger use that biometric as they go through the airport to verify themselves. “So, such a system, has both security and facilitation benefits in terms of conducting higher standard security checks than we have today and improving the end to end process for passengers by enabling self-service, and allowing the different stakeholders in the airport to work together to streamline procedures to the point where some of the steps can be eliminated. “Outbound Immigration checks would no longer be necessary, for example, and it would allow the security screening process to become more risk based, where people whose identity has been checked by biometrics can be given an expedited process. “For the industry to get to this point, there are a number of challenges to overcome. Obviously they include technology issues, as the industry doesn’t have a lot of technology at the airport today
AIR TRANSPORT IT SUMMIT to validate a passenger’s identity, even to the point where checks carried out on travel documents are very basic. “There is also the issue of getting all the different stakeholders to work together, as collaboration is the key to unlocking all of these benefits. And we have to remember that every airport is different so we have to find a way of making sure the technology fits in with the environment in which it is being implemented. “We have, for example, worked with some airports where the majority of passengers are in transit and the first time that you see them is when they show up at the boarding gate, having simply walked from the gate that they arrived at either minutes or hours earlier. “Governments have a clear interest in this as well as it is in their interests that the people getting on aeroplanes are who they say they are.” Explaining a little more about the security aspect of blockchain technology, Armin Armin Ebrahimi, founder and CEO of ShoCard, says: “It is significantly different to traditional databases in that you don’t have a single owner of an IT infrastructure who maintains it and ensures that its integrity is in place. “The second important difference is that you can put data inside the blockchain, but once you have done so and it has been confirmed, it cannot be deleted or updated. This is not the case with traditional databases where data can be accessed and altered by different parties. “A blockchain is in essence a public ledger, but because you cannot modify what’s there, security is significantly higher.”
The summit also gave most delegates their fist chance to see Leo, an innovative baggage robot, which is being trialled outside Geneva Airport’s Terminal 1. Leo is a fully autonomous, self-propelling baggage robot that has the capacity to check-in, print bag tags and transport up to two suitcases with a maximum weight of 32kg. It also has an obstacle avoidance capability and can navigate in a high-traffic environment such as an airport. Using robotics and artificial intelligence, bags will be collected, checked in, transported and loaded onto the correct flight without ever having to enter the terminal building or be directly handled by anyone other than the passengers themselves. Leo – named after the Italian Renaissance inventor and engineer Leonardo da Vinci who built what is now recognised as the world’s first robot – comes to the assistance of passengers as they approach the terminal building. Massimo Gentile, head of IT at Geneva Airport, says: “In a busy airport such as ours, the use of a robot such as Leo limits the number of bags in the airport terminal, helping us accommodate a growing number of passengers without compromising the airport experience inside the terminal. “It also proves the case for increased use of robotics to make passengers’ journey a little more comfortable, whether it is checking in baggage, providing directions or helping them through the security process.”
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Got the look Robbie Gill, managing director of The Design Solution, explains why he believes that every airport needs to express a ‘sense of place’.
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f you want to grab the attention of any busy airport manager, the words ‘non-aeronautical revenue’ will usually do the trick, especially when combined with the promise of new, smarter and more effective ways to drive growth. In my opinion, too many terminals suffer from an approach where they all look the same. International style ‘white elegant architecture’ with the same brands repeated across the globe. To grab a passenger, you have to be different, open their eyes and minds, create an emotional experience as well as a practical one and a relevant prompt to jump on social media and say positive things about their experience. That revenue dream is increasingly associated with the concept of ‘sense of place’. It has no clear definition in the airport world yet has lucid potential to support the passenger’s airport experience and drive revenue. Academics, including geographers, anthropologists and sociologists, present a range of definitions and we all have an instinctive grasp of what the term means. However, for shared clarity, I like the summary developed by a geographer, Yi-Fu Tuan, who suggests that it is “the affective bond between people and place or setting”. At heart, the passenger journey is a physical and emotional interaction with the airport. Absolutely every element of the airport journey – from the smoothness of drop-off to the air quality in the lounges – is assessed. Airports are still commonly perceived by many travellers as ‘nonplaces’ that are, at best, a necessary stage in the journey of getting to where they actually want to be. The challenge of ‘sense of place’ is to persuade them that, right now, this airport is actually a good place to be. The key point is that absolutely every aspect of the airport journey, no matter how seemingly small, plays an influence on the passenger mindset and on their perception of sense of place.
Getting the ‘big’ issues consistently right – access, queue management, security times, wayfinding etc – has to be complemented by getting the seemingly ‘small’ issues right, too. The concept of ‘sense of place’ has developed an extraordinary momentum, featuring in almost every airport announcement of a new or planned development, particularly as a flagship element in any modern airport design, such as the much-anticipated Midfield Terminal at Abu Dhabi International Airport, for example. Indeed, the project has set new benchmarks in everything from the ambition in the initial RFP process to the retail and F&B experiences, particularly in its deeply embedded focus on ‘local’ input, passionately emphasised not on ‘passengers’ but on ‘the guest experience’. Distinctly local elements contribute strongly to the expression of the terminal’s sense of place, from the character of the architecture of the terminal building to how retailers and brands invoke the location in their offer. As an architect, my perspective is that ‘sense of place’ begins with the architecture and design of the airport space, creating exciting spaces that deliver operational and commercial efficiency. As an architect, my perspective is that sense of place begins with creating exciting space that also delivers operational and commercial efficiency. The ideal stage to project a location’s sense of place is a balanced mix of local ingredients – such as Heathrow’s use of the iconic London Taxi in Terminal 2 – alongside compelling shopping, enticing restaurants and cafés. For example, putting a diverse portfolio of local favourite ‘hero’ brands in the F&B offer has helped Copenhagen Airport to become repeat winners of the industry’s FAB award for ‘Best Airport F&B’. Toronto Pearson has the ‘Tastefully Canadian’ concept store incorporating an intriguing range of local artisan producers, from ice wines to artisan biscuits and maple syrup, providing sights, sounds,
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tastes and textures that enhance the sense of place through a distinctly local dynamic. At Istanbul, İGA Havalimanı İşletmesi AŞ (IGA) planning for the city’s new €10.2 billion airport, scheduled to be the world’s largest airport under a single roof, is due to open in 2018 with a development capacity of more than 150 million passengers. However, the project isn’t simply about size as IGA states that the airport “will set new standards in operational and service quality – and a new benchmark for travel”. With a design that aims to resemble the flow of the Bosphorus, and with a firm emphasis on local products and artisans, the commercial heart of Istanbul New Airport will take travellers on a journey through one of Europe’s greatest cities. The airport’s emphasis on customer service and local inputs, including a traditional bazaar concept, will help to transmit a powerful sense of place that reflects the city’s unique personality. Unifree Duty Free are taking what appears to be a challenging and pioneering path but, in fact, it’s also very natural. By that I mean that they are thinking local and fully exploiting their unique local resources – which range from Turkish culture, style, brands and food to Unifree’s own brand qualities. The creation of Istanbul’s unique ‘sense of place’ will be brought to life with an exciting F&B offer from the region’s wonderful cuisine. ‘Local’ elements are available to every airport and so, by definition, can help create a unique experience, making a very special contribution to sense of place, so it is crucial that each airport fully exploits its local strengths. However, commercial realities mean that global icon brands dominate travel retail – driving the majority of retail revenue – but they can also make a powerful contribution to sense of place, as they have been challenged to do in Abu Dhabi and Istanbul. More recently world attention has focused on Rio. Having planned the commercial spaces, our retail design strategy for the duty and tax free shops at RIOgaleāo–Tom Jobim International Airport took Rio’s natural landscape, and its lack of straight lines, and we reflect this organic fluidity throughout the space.
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This includes both in the flow of the passenger pathways and in the details of the ceilings, floor and wall coverings, where we incorporated a variety of surface finishes and colour tones. Aesthetically, the design is all about natural, organic flows that use contours, such as the wave patterns in the ceiling, to create a natural, undulating softness to the flow of the space and the passenger journey. Sense of place works powerfully, outside of the architectural and the commercial. When it comes to airport-based artistic expression in sense of place, India is a front-runner. At Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport T2, owner GVK – driven by the artistic passion of vice chairman, Sanjay Reddy – has developed an extraordinary sense of place through the huge scale and quality of its constantly evolving artistic installations. The centrepiece being ‘Jaya He’, a gigantic art wall four floors high and a total length of over three kilometres! In creating this mesmerising series of museum-quality displays throughout the terminal, incorporating historic and contemporary themes, over 7,000 artefacts were sourced from across India, many of which were meticulously restored. The display themes celebrate many aspects of Indian culture, from ‘India Seamless’, depicting the myths, histories and popular culture of the regions, to ‘India Global’, celebrating the nation’s contemporary urbanscapes and lifestyles. There is absolutely no doubt in the traveller’s mind about their location when they are in this extraordinary building and, once seen, it is never forgotten. As the major gateways to cities and countries, airports have a duty – and an incredible opportunity – to present an authentic and memorable sense of place. Delivered well it’s a powerful influencer on an enjoyable and satisfying passenger experience; which in turn helps drive nonaeronautical revenue. That’s why, on the bottom line, the concept of sense of place should grab the attention of every airport manager.
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SPOTLIGHT ON MAG
Global investor MAG USA CEO and president, Rosemarie Andolino, talks about the growing product portfolio of the North American subsidiary of the UK’s Manchester Airport Group. What was the thinking behind MAG’s decision to extend its business interests overseas? Manchester Airport Group [MAG] is already the largest UK-owned airport operator, operating four airports that contribute more than $6 billion to the UK economy. As a commercial organisation with both public and private sector shareholders, we are always looking at ways to increase shareholder value. With our airports consistently outperforming the market and achieving revenues of $1.1 billion in 2015, an overseas expansion was an obvious opportunity for further growth. MAG USA was launched in 2015 as an airport development, management and services company in North America, with an ultimate objective of becoming the ‘go-to’ organisation for developing market-leading commercial solutions that transform customer experiences in airports. Why the USA? As MAG’s first international venture, the USA was a clear choice for us. In terms of culture and language we are closely related, but furthermore a number of opportunities exist across the states for our successful products to transform the travelling experience; MAG’s shareholders are both public and private, this unique ownership structure means that like most US airports, our focus is on improving the customer experience for our passengers. We have already enjoyed great success in our first year with the opening of our very first lounge at Minneapolis-St Paul Airport and our premium, common-use Escape lounges opening in the fall of 2016 at Oakland and Bradley International Airports. What is your business development strategy and what are you main areas of focus? Though we manage whole airports in the UK, from operating our own car parks to our running our own air traffic control, MAG USA is focused on offering three proven products that add value by enhancing the airport experience: Escape is MAG’s award winning common use lounge. The lounge offers a relaxing atmosphere away from the hustle and bustle of the airport environment and provides all of the amenities a passenger can desire: unlimited fresh food and drink, high
speed Wi-Fi, Flight Information Displays visible from every seat, iPads and charging stations as well as an array of magazines and newspapers to name but a few. As a common use lounge, anyone can enjoy our relaxing lounge. MAG has a proven track record in transforming car park operations into highly profitable, customer service focused businesses. Our commercial expertise, combined with our innovative approach to product development, has given us a tried and tested formula for attracting customers and driving revenue growth for airports. In addition to being profitable, our car parking services improve the traveller’s experience, which is reflected in our exceptional Airport Service Quality (ASQ) scores. P3 and terminal developments that transform the passenger experience have been a major factor in MAG’s commercial success and customer satisfaction. Whether it is a P3 or traditional development, MAG’s industry leading retail and marketing expertise enhances the customer’s journey through the airport. MAG has recently completed a successful redevelopment of London Stansted Airport and is in the midst of a $1.5 billion redevelopment of our terminals at Manchester Airport. Are you an equity investor? MAG USA has invested 100% equity in its portfolio of three lounges in the USA. We assess each opportunity individually and the level of equity investment will be unique depending on the product size and other commercial terms. How important to MAG USA are car parking services and developing your network of Escape Lounges? Very! We are extremely confident in the quality, convenience and value that both our Escape Lounge and Car Parking products can bring to US consumers. We have seen great success in the UK and are confident that we can replicate that success in the US. Crucially, all of our products not only make commercial sense, but they each contribute to an improved airport experience.
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SMART AIRPORTS & REGIONS
Smart moves
Airports as the catalysts for economic development was top of the agenda at this year’s SMART Airports & Regions Conference and Exhibition in Richmond, British Columbia.
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earing more about the key role airports play in driving local, regional and sometimes national economies helped draw a crowd of 350 delegates from over 20 countries to this year’s event, jointly hosted by Tourism Richmond and Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Vancouver International Airport’s CEO, Craig Richmond, certainly left delegates in no doubt about the economic, social and personal benefits his gateway brings to the city of Vancouver and the wider metropolitan area that includes Richmond. Indeed, YVR supports more than 24,000 direct jobs at the airport and generates C$5.3 billion in total gross domestic product and C$11.7 billion in total economic output into the Canadian economy. However, in his opening address he chose to focus more on the social and economic importance of aviation in general and the fact that today’s airports acted more like modern day communities than just transportation centres. “Modern day aviation is a force for connectivity and has become woven into the fabric of our civilisation,” said Richmond. “There are almost 3,900 commercial airports in the world and they act as the bases and hubs in the system for business, for service, innovation and sustainability. “In fact, I would argue quite strongly that many airports have become more than just airports and have become communities in and among themselves that support and expand the growth of their respective regions.” He noted that innovation and teamwork and thinking ahead were key to YVR’s long-term success, revealing that although the first commercial A380 service to the airport didn’t touch down until May 1 this year (a British Airways service to London), the gateway had been planning for its arrival for 20 years.
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SMART AIRPORTS & REGIONS “We had our first meeting with Airbus in 1995 and built a parking spot and de-icing pad for the A380 in 2003. We modified the terminal building with dual bridges in 2007 and the first flight was this year. So, you can see that you’ve got to think ahead, especially for an aircraft with a wingspan of 264 feet.” He went on: “We’re currently working on a new master plan which will look at our land use over the coming decades, and the one thing we’ve learnt from past experiences is that we need to involve our stakeholders early in order to ensure that we plan with the community in mind in order to ensure that we plan with the community in mind. “We therefore had our first phase of consultation with stakeholders last year and we heard them loud and clear. They want an increased human touch at our airport, improved efficiency through technology and they want to see us increase our focus on sustainability. So, we are doing all these things.” Welcoming delegates and nearly 30 exhibitors to the show, Tracy Lakeman, CEO of Tourism Richmond, said: “The visitor economy in Richmond, not including the numbers from YVR, represents nearly 14,000 jobs earning C$454 million and C$636 million in GDP from 9.3 million visitors, so there’s no doubt that tourism, currently growing at 5% per annum, is important to our city’s economy and that YVR has helped to shape and grow this successful visitor economy.” She was, however, quick to point out that success for YVR, Richmond and the surrounding region had involved working together and collaborating with local partners to drive economic growth. It was a topic she was to expand on in the last session of the conference about destination marketing.
Spotlight on North America The theme continued in the SMART 360 Debate, which this year saw Denver International Airport’s CEO, Kim Day; Atlanta Aerotropolis Alliance’s Doug Hooker; Charlotte Douglas’ economic affairs manager administration, Stuart Hair; and InterVISTAS’ chief economist and strategist, Mike Trethaway; join YVR’s Richmond and moderator, MXD’s president and CEO, Chris LeTourneur, on stage. Day said: “At DEN, we have first-hand knowledge of how an airport can become an economic generator for the surrounding region. “Prior to 1995, many of you may remember Denver’s original airport, Stapleton International. It was situated on 7.3 square miles and was totally encapsulated by residential development and so noise and safety issues were at the forefront of any development plans. The annual economic impact was limited: a mere $3.1 billion. “Some 21 years later, DEN situated on a 53 square mile site, is the largest economic engine in the region generating $26.3 billion a year into the economy.” She joked that Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta, LAX, Dallas/Fort Worth and Chicago O’Hare could all fit on the airport site and there would still be room for a golf course, and told delegates that the visionaries who built DEN wanted it this way to ensure that all noise was kept on the airport. “At Stapleton, the 65 DNL [Day-Night Sound Level] noise contour had 13,000 homes in it. Our airport has six,” said Day, noting that 76 working oil and gas wells and four solar arrays generating 7% of DEN’s power demand were among a number of commercial developments on the airport site today, and much more was to follow. Recent new additions have included a 519-room Westin Hotel on top of a transit centre, which houses a commuter rail station, making it possible to travel between the airport and bustling downtown Denver by train in just 37 minutes.
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Charlotte Douglas’ Hair described his gateway as an economic engine of the Carolinas, before outlining its ambitious development plans, the tagline of which claims that it is “building an airport fit for the queen”. “CLT has an annual regional economic impact of over $12 billion and operations at CLT contribute over $30 million in state and local sales taxes annually,” said Hair, while revealing that it has one of the industry’s lowest airline cost per enplaned passenger (CPE) of $1.33 for FY2015.
Leading the way Later in the day during an airport leaders panel, Rosemary Vassiliadis, director of the Clark County Department of Aviation, admitted her goal was to ensure that McCarran International Airport always had the capacity to avoid becoming “an impediment to growth” for the community it serves. She noted that Terminal 3, which opened in June 2012 and is the largest public works project to ever take place in the state of Nevada, has hugely increased McCarran’s operational flexibility by splitting traffic between two facilities. It is also one of the world’s most high-tech terminals as its range of self-service facilities makes it possible to move from the kerb to gate without ever speaking to a member of staff. She also revealed that the biggest cause for concern for McCarran in terms of its future growth wasn’t infrastructure on the ground. “Airspace capacity or our highways in the sky as we call them, and not infrastructure, is our number one most constraining factor, if you can believe that,” admitted Vassiliadis. “We butt up against the Department of Defense and we have Nellis Air Force Base right next to us and guess what, the Department of Justice wins every time we ask for just a tiny little slither of air space that would make such a difference to us and the community.” Speaking during the same session, Houston Airport Systems’ chief operating officer, Balram Bheodari, enthused about the $4 billion transformation plans for the city’s Bush Intercontinental and William P Hobby airports and the desire to create a Spaceport at Ellington. In addition to the infrastructure development plans, he also outlined the importance in which HAS places on community engagement and building good relationships with students and school kids who could become its employees of tomorrow. “We want to appeal to young minds to think about aviation and develop a local workforce to help us deliver our mission,” says Bheodari.
Going global The final panel of Day 1 saw Quito–Mariscal Sucre’s Andrew O’Brian; Mumbai–Chhatrapati Shivaji’s Rajeev Jain; Aéroports de Paris’ Elisabeth Le Masson; Manchester Airport Group’s Lynda Shillaw; and Piedmont Triad’s Kevin Baker discuss economic development strategies at their respective gateways.
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Between them they harbour a variety of very ambitious airport development plans that include the creation of a new city around Quito’s gateway; establishing a 24-hour SkyCity business and leisure hub at Chhatrapati Shivaji with its own Bollywood attraction and theme parks; co-ordinating the growth and development of the Paris CDG Airport Area to ensure that it remains a economic engine for the city and France; and building Airport City Manchester at the UK at the same time as investing £1 million on an airport enhancement programme. ADP’s Le Masson said: “We are targetting four main economic sectors – airport services; aeronautics; logistics; and hospitality/MICE and leisure tourism. “These categories include logistics centres, industrial parks, business districts, hospitality, convention centres, retail and leisure facilities. We currently have 25 major projects in the airport area, which represent a huge investment of €15 billion. The funding, which excludes infrastructure, is coming entirely from the private sector and will create 130,000 new jobs, so they are quite important.”
Customer service Arguably the most impassioned presentations of the show was provided by Karen Ellis, now the chief experience officer at San Antonio Airport, who talked about creating a “culture of service” at the world’s airports that included staff recognition for doing a good job and the potential to ‘surprise and delight’ passengers. Ellis, who left the stage to walk among delegates during the session on Delivering a Unique Customer Centric Experience, claimed that she liked getting complaints from staff as it provided an opportunity to make an improvement. “If we don’t get complaints, we don’t know what’s wrong and this is not good as oftentimes people who are unhappy will just leave your organisation and you’ll have no idea why the left,” suggested Ellis. Other speakers in the session, included ACI World’s head of ASQ, Dimitri Coll; Lynette du Jean from Vancouver International Airport; and Orlando International Airport’s Debra Bouier. Talking about the benefits of ACI’s Airport Service Quality (ASQ) programme, ACI World’s Coll said: “The customer experience is more than just about delivering good levels of service, it is a state of mind. It is about how to get your customer emotionally engaged with your airport. “It is about emotions and therefore you have to know and understand your customer and know how they feel at every stage of their journey through the airport. “You should know their expectations and their future expectations and what to do to go above and beyond these. Monitoring these emotions, expectations and therefore satisfaction levels is exactly what the purpose of the ASQ programme. “It is a really powerful tool if you want to increase the passenger experience and, as we all know, there is a strong link between customer satisfaction and passenger spend in airports, with happy passengers spending more than dissatisfied ones.” AW
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Building loyalty What do airport retailers and F&B operators have to do to win over customers and convince them to return again and again? Clare Williams investigates.
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ith duty free and travel retail sales set to top $100 billion by 2023, according to the latest data from Generation Research, it makes sense for airports to make the best of this vital stream of non-aeronautical revenue. And cultivating loyalty among passengers so that they return to the airport and actively look to return to a particular store or F&B outlet in search of a favourite brand or dish is one way to keep the cash flowing. Non-aeronautical revenue now accounts for well over two thirds of income in many airports, and with duty free and travel retail sales currently standing at over $60 billion a year, it’s worth investing in this potentially highly lucrative business. So what should airports be doing to encourage loyalty? Undoubtedly the single most important thing airports can do, according to Erik Juul-Mortensen, president of TFWA, is to ensure that the airport processing experience is so smooth and slick that customers want to come back time and time again. A swift and stress-free passage from landside to airside is fundamental to ensuring that passengers are in the mindset to spend. Value also matters. “This is an issue across the commercial operations of an airport – if passengers feel they are being ripped off for parking or a cup of coffee, they are also likely to feel that the retail space offers similarly bad value,” he says. But above and beyond providing this, what else can airports do?
The power of partnerships Well-crafted loyalty programmes have had success at some airports. Juul-Mortensen points out that as in many aspects of running a successful non-aeronautical business at an airport, the most successful schemes depend on close co-operation among a number of partners. Of course a number of airports are running successful loyalty programmes, working with their commercial partners. Similarly, some
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retailers have also implemented schemes that have performed well, often linked with their operations outside the airport. DFS’s LOYAL T initiative at Hong Kong’s T Galleria shops, which rewards passengers with a tiered range of benefits according to their spend both at the airport and at the retailer’s outlets downtown, is a sterling example. But many airlines have already ‘captured the hearts’ of passengers with well-established and sophisticated schemes, and much can be gained by working together, Juul-Mortensen believes. The partnership between Lufthansa’s Miles & More scheme and retailer Gebr Heinemann is a case in point, says Juul-Mortensen. “When airports get round the table with airlines and retailers, they can create a joined up offer that really delivers for the passenger. This is not easy, as the interests of each party are not always aligned,” says Juul-Mortensen. He adds that it’s also important to ensure that each party benefits equally from such alliances. “The costs and advantages of these schemes must be shared between all parties,” he notes. In an ideal world, these partnerships would be not only between the parties at an airport, but also between airports themselves, says Juul-Mortensen. “Very few passengers have the energy or inclination to join programmes at several airports, while others don’t travel frequently enough to make being a member of more than a single airport programme worthwhile,” he says. “This is something that has been considered by various parties, and although such a card would undoubtedly be a winner – it would be very difficult to pull together.”
Reasons to return Loyalty isn’t just about cards and points, it’s also about providing passengers with reasons to keep flying through an airport.
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“Many airport passengers are regular flyers, and we need to give these people something fresh and exciting as well as a sense of pride in the airport they use,” points out the TFWA chief. Mignon Buckingham, managing director of global loyalty agency ICLP, agrees and adds: “When designing a loyalty programme for airports, we know we aren’t just talking to one type of customer – the most successful programmes will give value to the very regular traveller as well as the holidaymaker.” ICLP believes that better understanding of customers as individuals is a crucial and often neglected element of running successful commercial operations at an airport. “Airports know how many passengers pass through their gates and when and where they are travelling. But many don’t really know these people or anything about their likes, dislikes, habits and preferences,” suggests Buckingham. “Without collecting this data and using it intelligently, they will never be able to truly drive loyalty.” When it comes to encouraging airport customers to return, for example, deep understanding of the motivations of the customer and which aspects of using an airport are top of their list of must-haves is a priority. ICLP recently conducted a survey into the relationships passengers have with the airports they use the most, and it found that many of the elements that airports aren’t able to influence, such as cost of fares or convenient transport links, were among the essentials in the decision-making process. However, many of the factors that could sway choice are within their control. These include a number of elements that improve the convenience of travel, such as efficient security (77%), preferred airline (65%), or easily accessible parking (48%). Others are swayed by the concepts that make the airport experience more pleasant, such as the food and beverage offering (44%), shop or restaurant offers and discounts from the airport (37%), a good choice of retailers (34%) and access to a premium airport lounge (34%).
People more than passengers Developing a real understanding of the needs and desires of passengers is the first step in the process of ensuring the travelling customer returns. “Fostering genuine loyalty depends on getting to know passengers at a personal level,” remarks Buckingham.
“We need to move away from seeing ‘the passenger as a statistic’ and towards ‘the passenger as a human’ which means really getting to grips with their personalities and habits, their likes and dislikes.”
From disinterested to devoted To achieve this ‘up close and personal’ relationship, airports first need to give passengers good reason to engage with them and share information about themselves, according to Buckingham. “We found that most people are open to having a two-way relationship with the airport, and nearly two-thirds (64%) already actively try to connect – whether that’s via the airport’s website or via social media,” she says. “Many of these people will of course be looking for practical information on how to make their journey easier, such as details on flight departures, the best way of getting to the airport, or traffic news. But this clearly suggests that there might be an opportunity to develop that interaction and forge a deeper relationship. “We need to ask what turns a routine journey into an outstanding experience, and what information we need to answer that question.” For that first advance to happen, airports and retailers need to give passengers reasons to share information about themselves. To find out what these triggers might be, ICLP’s survey asked passengers what would tempt them to give up personal details. Practical help was high on the list, and over 50% of respondents said they would share information in return for free Wi-Fi or flight notifications, while 35% of respondents would provide information in return for road traffic information. Financial and more emotional incentives such as pre-flight vouchers (43%), shopping vouchers (42%) and loyalty cards (31%) also appealed. “It’s about giving customers information and experiences they want in an engaging way which in turn provides the platform to incentivise the commercial behaviours that airports want to encourage,” comments Buckingham. So there you have it, happy and engaged passengers are more likely to buy and become loyal customers in the years ahead, especially if the positive experience is repeated and even AW improved upon next time out.
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CUSTOMER SERVICE
Making headlines President, Deborah Cooper, talks to Joe Bates about the launch, success and development of CNN Airport Network. How did CNN Airport Network come about? It is a passenger-inspired network that was born out of the desire to be kept updated on the critical world events that were unfolding at the time of the first Gulf War in 1991. Back then in the US, 95% of passengers had no way of accessing up to the minute news. Our owner, Ted Turner, was concerned that perhaps this demand for CNN was connected only to the situation in the Gulf and that this demand might dissipate. However, to the contrary, research demonstrated that travellers had a need to connect to world events beyond the situation in the Middle East and the ratings for such a service were extremely high. Armed with that information, the prototype for the first CNN Airport Network programming wheel was developed.
How do you tailor your content to an airport audience and is it airport specific? Our content has evolved significantly over the last 25 years. We started with dedicated Airport Network anchors and custom content with a 30-minute wheel. As viewership grew and winter months and delays did as well, our research showed viewers were eager to have up to the minute news and information that would make their dwell time seem more productive. Now, we programme our network live 24/7 specifically for airport viewers. This means we vary our programming by day-parts, offering quick-paced news and features in the busy morning travel times; more in-depth news in the afternoons and early evening; and a more relaxed format on the weekends. Each hour of the day includes the latest news, sports and business headlines as well as multiple weather forecasts. which are so important to air travellers. Our programming breaks down to approximately 35% news and weather, 25% live sports, 15% lifestyle, 15% travel and 10% local and regional content.
Do people really want to watch the news when they are travelling? News is still the number one genre of programming travellers want, according to our bi-annual Nielsen survey of passengers. Domestic and world news along with business updates and weather are key components of our programming during rush hours in the morning and late afternoon. Research also tells us that viewers want variety, therefore we include lighter fare such as tips for frequent flyers, guides to beautiful
destinations around the world, business profiles and highlights of the latest trends at airports around the US. We also include original programming from Turner’s portfolio of brands including shows like TNT’s The Last Ship or truTV’s The Carbonaro Effect, as well as custom segments from TBS, Turner Classic Movies (TCM), Cartoon Network and professional live sports.
What are the most popular items on CNN’s Airport Network? The most popular items are the live breaking news events. When people are travelling they are out of their normal routines and they tell us (through Nielsen research) that they look for the latest news on our screens when they arrive at their gates. After getting the news, they like alternative content that’s designed specifically for them. Our stories about great destinations and travel tips are also very popular. And, of course, people love the live sports we carry.
Are you a frequent traveller yourself and, if so, do you have a favourite airport? I take about 20 trips a year for business purposes and several for vacation, so yes, I would say I am a frequent flyer. I don’t think it’s possible to compare an airport like Atlanta or JFK to an airport like Palm Beach or TF Green. They are completely different facilities and it’s like comparing apples and oranges. Personally, I enjoy virtually every airport that I travel through. They all have their unique features and amenities and I never tire of discovering new things to see and do in all of them. AW
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AIRFIELD SAFETY
All about the airfield Crawford, Murphy & Tilly’s Craig Louden reflects on how US airports can navigate new FAA design standards that could potentially impact on the long-term development plans for their airfields.
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ith last summer’s roll out of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Runway Incursion Mitigation (RIM) programme, it is apparent that a focus on airfield safety at US airports remains a priority. The now complete Runway Safety Area (RSA) programme and the FAA’s significant rewrite of the Airport Design Advisory Circular (AC) 150/5300-13A in 2012 were initial steps that illustrate the strategy to place more emphasis towards airfield safety. The result is an agency shift in priorities for planning and capital improvement programming that can have profound impacts on some airports that may now be required to make adjustments to their airfield complex in lieu of advancing their own locally driven capital initiatives. While the FAA’s specific treatment of the new programme and standards may vary somewhat, nationwide implementation is ongoing and will continue to intensify. The Airport Layout Plan (ALP) is the shared planning tool used by the FAA and the airport sponsor to depict both existing facilities and planned development for an airport. The FAA requires regular updates to the ALP. Indeed, so much has changed in recent years that those ALPs completed before 2012 are based on methodologies and trends no longer considered viable. Now, more than ever, you should be taking a closer look at the FAA’s new standards and programmes by revisiting your airport’s ALP. What follows is a summary of policies and trends that could drive your airport’s future development plan.
13A, RIM and FAA’s data driven approach to airport planning The FAA’s focus on safety led to a substantial revision to the Airport Design AC 150/5300-13A in late 2012. While the AC contains new
aircraft classifications and new taxiway fillet design methodologies and geometries, the most impactful guidance to holistic airport planning is the utilisation of geometric factors in airfield design to increase situational awareness and reduce runway incursions. Specific points of emphasis include the following: avoiding wide expanses of pavement; reducing the number of runway crossing locations; avoiding ‘high energy’ intersections (intersections in the middle third of the runway); increasing visibility, making runway/ taxiway or taxiway/taxiway intersections right angles for maximum visibility; avoiding “dual purpose” pavements, where runways are used as taxiways; and avoiding direct access, not designing taxiways to lead directly from an apron area to/across a runway. When these criteria for geometric standards are applied to existing airfields it is not unheard of for some larger airports to have more than 40 non-compliant locations. In what will be their next long-term airport development initiative, in May 2015, the Runway Incursion Mitigation (RIM) programme was unveiled, followed by the first RIM grants being issued in September 2015. While currently focused on an initial group of airports, RIM reveals how the FAA will be leveraging its own data in guiding the planning decisions for airports. The process allows historic runway incursion data to overlay the airport diagram to determine a correlation between ‘hotspots’ or other areas of complex geometry and runway incursions. In the short-term, it is anticipated that the FAA’s next steps will continue to include evaluating priority locations, determining mitigation options and recommending improvements. Longer-term actions will include developing improvement schedules and budgets, and initiating additional projects.
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AIRFIELD SAFETY
An example of the Airfield Layout Plans (ALP) at General Mitchell (Milwaukee) and Lexington Blue Grass (Kentucky) airports in the US.
The FAA’s ability to make these assessments is supported by their Airports GIS (AGIS) driven data submittal requirements released in 2007. These include ACs 150/5300-16A, 17C and 18B. The documents have fundamentally changed the manner in which airport planning deliverables are prepared and submitted. It also allows the FAA to be better informed and proactive in addressing its own priorities on your airport.
An emphasis on mitigating complex geometry Given the increasing trend in the FAA’s emphasis towards safety priorities, US airports have genuine concerns that they may lose some of their control over their own planning and capital improvements programming. Your priorities for federally funded projects, such as maintenance, land acquisition or capacity improvements can be delayed as Airport Improvement Program (AIP) entitlement or discretionary funds are reallocated to complex geometry mitigation. An approach to planning that is both proactive and holistic can help you get a handle on the issues and develop a strategic roadmap that addresses complex geometry issues that meet the FAA’s intent, while also preserving vital airport goals. Such a planning process can leverage new criteria and programmes to yield opportunity for the sponsor to comply with this criteria, while still advancing its own individual agenda. In the end, the airport maintains control of its programme and its future. A prime example of Crawford, Murphy & Tilly’s (CMT’s) innovative approach to planning is the ALP update for Lexington Blue Grass Airport where the new criteria has been leveraged to the gateway’s benefit.
Lexington Blue Grass Airport On the heels of two major programmes to expand the airfield and terminal facilities, CMT was selected to lead a Master Plan and ALP update for the Kentucky airport, which were focused on remaining ancillary items. During the planning process the FAA came out with its new AC 150/5300 13A directive. We recognised that the challenges of the new criteria would require addressing complex geometry issues in the vicinity of the airport’s terminal area. And while this could have been a temporary setback in the airport’s overall programme, we identified an opportunity to leverage the new
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criteria to not only meet the FAA’s new requirements, but to also maintain projects that had long been on the airport’s own priority list within the five-year Capital Improvement Program (CIP). CMT formulated the process into a $60 million Taxiway Safety Enhancement Plan that not only enhanced safety through the relocation and expansion of several taxiways, but also opened the door for the relocation of the airport’s maintenance complex and the construction of a new and expanded Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) facility, both of which were out-dated and in need of replacement. The plan creatively leveraged newly published airport design standards, non-conforming airfield areas, airfield capacity needs, and air traffic control tower support to increase federal funding eligibility to its maximum permissible participation levels, saving the airport sponsor millions of dollars in local funds. CMT provided project justification and FAA co-ordination to enable the airport sponsor to advance the project as their top development priority and receive a commitment of over $25 million in federal discretionary funds. This multi-year programme is now under construction. This outcome underscores the importance of a proactive response to FAA criteria. It avoids a reactive predicament that can interrupt capital schedules and budgets. A value-driven airport planning approach can keep an airport ahead of the curve in addressing FAA’s priorities for airfield safety. Such an approach can help an airport preserve a level of control over its programme and might, in some cases, convert setbacks into opportunities. In the end, it requires a holistic perspective, a collaborative style and the experience of how to leverage design criteria to the airport’s benefit. A lot has changed in the last three years. If your ALP hasn’t been updated recently, perhaps it’s time to blow off the dust and have AW another look?
About the author Craig Louden is an aviation engineer and project manager with Crawford, Murphy & Tilly, Inc (CMT). He can be contacted at clouden@cmtengr.com
CAR PARKING
Driving profits Small changes to the customer buying experience can make a big difference to an airport’s e-commerce revenues from parking, writes AeroParker’s Jon Keefe.
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ike famous brands such as ASOS, adidas and airbnb, today’s airports are online retailers and should be constantly striving to deliver an excellent user experience for their customers. The brands above have understood that the easier, slicker and more user-friendly it is to buy online, the more likely it is that customers will convert and come back. It is a simple philosophy and one that airports can learn from. So, what do airports have to do better to create an excellent online experience? Well, in my opinion, one of the first things they should do is look beyond competitors at other airports and turn to the vanguards of e-commerce. It’s all about being ‘simpler’, ‘slicker’, ‘more secure’ and ‘more rewarding’. That’s what customers are after and that’s what you should strive for. Simpler: Making it easy to buy. You will be amazed how difficult it sometimes is to buy things online. It can almost feel like an assault course for you to actually get to the check out. Slicker: Making things intuitive. The system should do what customers are expecting it to do or at least allow them to do what has to be done in order to complete the buying process. More secure: Mmake your customer feel safe. It’s reallyimportant that a customer feels that their data and transactions are secure because otherwise they will go somewhere else where they feel secure. More rewarding: Give customers a reason to come back. Not only will this help you create a loyal customer base with existing customers, but they might also share their experience with other people, who in turn will then be become customers of yours. If you can satisfy these four needs – and bear in mind that these are not fixed finishing lines as the goalposts are always moving forward – you will become a successful online retailer.
A few tips Sometimes simple changes make a huge difference. When Google changed the colour of their AdWord blue to a darker shade, for example, people suddenly found it more appealing and revenue shot up by $200 million in one year alone. Too much choice is also bad, for although retail is about choice, retailers often make the mistake of offering so much choice that it is impossible to make a decision. We have found the five crucial points to be true: – Remove distractions from the booking process. Put your customers in a sales funnel, tell them how long it is and on which step they are currently. Your customer is on a journey and it is only fair that you tell them how long it will take. – Make sure that the customer is reassured at every point about security and provide shortcuts whenever possible. – Don’t waste space. In the old days, one of the golden rules in the advertising industry was that white space sells. In particular on mobiles, it does not. – Form design is crucial. Adjust the length of the fields to the expected content, make them respond immediately and arrange them in the way that will make easy for people to read; names horizontally, addresses and payment details vertically. – Test and test again. There’s no finish line to the ultimate customer experience, and hence there’s no finish line to testing. If you are not continually testing, you are missing out. Leave the wrong impression at any point in a customer’s interactions with you and it can trigger an immediate negative impact, which can be harmful to the business’s reputation and customer base in the long-term. AW
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CAR PARKING NEWS
Paying off Airports continue to enhance their parking facilities to make them more efficient and customer friendly, writes Joe Bates.
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t is now possible to use PayPal to reserve a car parking space at Frankfurt Airport after the German gateway added it as a payment option on its online booking system. Airport operator, Fraport, claims it took the decision to add the payment option – it was already possible to use credit cards – because PayPal is widely used in Germany with around 17.2 million active customers. It notes that with 14,000 parking spaces available within a short distance of its terminals it is not essential to book in advance, but notes that those that do can save up to 61% compared with the standard parking fees, depending on the season, parking duration and demand. Fraport says: “The advance online reservation for a parking space at Frankfurt Airport has many advantages. It is convenient, offers an attractive discount and can be carried out quickly and easily in just a few clicks.”
The system has been integrated with Advam’s pre-booking system and also offers 2D/QR barcode reading on all public entry and exit barriers to allow future ticketless access technologies. “This was a great example of teams from across the business coming together to deliver a quality product that has a direct impact on the public’s perception of Cork Airport,” says the airport’s IT business relationship manager, Conor O’ Driscoll. “Car parks tend to be the first and last touch point with the airport for a lot of the travelling public and are hugely important in ensuring a positive customer experience.” Phase 2 of the system upgrade will include integration with Advam chip and pin credit card payment at all pay stations as well all public entry and exit lanes with chip/contactless credit card payments.
Smart-sensor guidance system
Easing road congestion at LAX
Park Assist is currently installing its M4 smart-sensor camera based parking guidance system at Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska. Eppley Airfield will become the second airport in the US to utilise the technology, joining Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida. “Our technology will provide Omaha’s Eppley Airfield and its travellers with an effortless parking experience along with reduced traffic congestion,” enthuses Park Assist’s CEO, Gary Neff. “Our Find Your Car technology will be available on the flyOMA app. The app identifies the number of available spaces per level before arriving at the airport. When a traveller returns, the app will locate your car.” Traffic at the gateway has increased over the past two years and the rise in demand has led to the need to upgrade its existing infrastructure and parking availability. The M4 Camera Based Parking Guidance System will be installed in the existing parking garage and an outdoor vehicle detection system will be installed in the two surface lots. Omaha travellers will enjoy guidance to over 7,000 parking spaces at the airport.
The world’s largest Consolidated Rent-A-Car (CONRAC) facility set to be built on a 136-acre site at Los Angeles International Airport will immediately remove around 18% of the road traffic from the central terminal area, according to deputy executive director of Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), Cynthia Guidry. The complex is a key project of LAWA’s $5.5 billion Landside Access Modernization Program (LAMP) and will replace more than 20 separate car rental facilities today, which Guidry admits is confusing for customers and one of the biggest sources of complaints about LAX. It will be connected directly to the terminals by a new 2.5 mile Automated People Mover (APM) system and complemented by new roadways and a variety of different intermodal transfer facilities in and around the airport that between them are projected to remove between 30% and 35% of traffic from the central terminal area. Referring to LAMP, Guidry says: “We want to do something that not only improves the way our airport flows but also makes life easier for passengers as we recognise that the guest experience often starts way before setting foot on the airport. “It should ensure that when people get to any one of our facilities, whether this is the consolidated rental car complex or a drop-off location a mile away, they will feel like they have arrived at a wonderful airport.” The world’s seventh busiest airport based on the 74.9 million passengers to pass through its facilities in 2015 is aiming to complete LAMP by 2023, and it may need it if Los Angeles is successful in its bid to host the 2024 Olympics. Road congestion is one of the biggest challenges faced by LAX today, admits Guidry, who says that during busy peak periods it is not uncommon AW to encounter gridlock a mile or two away from the airport.
Ensuring a positive experience In Ireland, Cork Airport has contracted Advanced Parking Solutions Ltd to upgrade its car parks with software from Skidata, which includes 11 new automatic pay stations. As part of the modernisation programme, the Skidata system was installed onto a new virtualised IT network within the car park environment to ensure resilience and security as well as fast data and voice communication transfer.
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IT INNOVATION
Queue busting South Africa’s aviation sector is rapidly digitising its operations in line with global demands, writes Sello Mmakau, Airports Company South Africa’s chief information officer.
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odern business has learnt that technology no longer plays a supportive role, but is now central to the activities that drive business strategy. Indeed, companies are rapidly evolving into digital concerns performing business functions through the application of modern state-of-the-art technology to accomplish a set of defined corporate objectives. And Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) is no different. Arguably, the need to fully automate processes in the aviation industry and eliminate the human element in the delivery of services has never been greater. As a result, the industry is constantly driving new technologies aimed at enhancing the customer experience and making it convenient for airports to communicate with customers and passengers. For our part we have crafted a five-year digital strategy approved by the Board of Directors in Financial Year 2015/16 for implementation in FY2016/17. The key dimensions of this new strategy are ‘passenger experience’ (self-services solutions); ‘mobile and social’; ‘business intelligence’ (analytics); and ‘digital Infrastructure’. In December 2015, ACSA contracted SITA to install new self-help baggage drop-in kiosks (part of passenger experience). This solution demonstrates our commitment to technological advancements, a deeper comprehension and appreciation of global travel trends and the willingness to bring this technology to South Africa’s airports. This project will not only limit possible human errors, but also hasten and simplify the check-in processes, while also exposing our valued customers to the latest trends in customer processing technology. In addition we have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Germany’s Munich Airport Group that is designed to allow us to tap into their digital expertise and experience to enhance our operations. Its range of highly efficient, digitised solutions includes
InfoGate, its very own multi-functional and interactive information and navigation instrument at Munich International Airport. The highly innovative and interactive system allows passengers to speak in real time to a customer services officer who appears on the screen in front of them and is trained to assist with a range of service related queries ranging from security advice to directions to nearby eateries. We like them so much in fact that we have concluded an agreement with them to deploy InfoGates at our airports starting with a pilot project in the second quarter of this financial year.We also plan taking our information technology relationship with the Munich Airport Group to the next level by exploring the possibility of jointly developing a global mobile travel application that would end the need for individual airport apps on your phone. ACSA will become the first African airport operator to feature in the new application when it is launched in the final quarter of the year. In the meantime, as a responsive entity, we are also working on a revised version of our existing stand-alone application which will come with quite a number of enhancements aimed at making it more user-friendly to a wider market including those with disabilities. All these initiatives are aimed at bringing us closer to our aspiration of being a digital entity providing aviation services through the management of airports. There is no doubt that ACSA is one of Africa’s leading airports management companies and it counts Africa’s busiest gateway – Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport – among its airports. It is therefore very important that we keep a close eye on the impact of technological advancements on our business processes and consider ways in which we could adopt them to become more operationally effective and better understand our customers and passenger behaviours. Doing this will not only make ACSA a better company but also AW help steer its direction in the years ahead.
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WBP NEWS
The need for speed CEO of thyssenkrupp Elevator, Andreas Schierenbeck, discusses innovation in the airport sector and how moving walkways are getting quicker and aircraft docking faster due to new technology.
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n the UK, travelling by plane has become one of the most popular methods of transport. As a result, more than 236 million people move through UK airports each year, with the biggest gateway, London Heathrow, welcoming more than 70 million passengers through its doors every 12 months. With this figure set to grow, it is important that we begin to think carefully about how best to keep people moving in our airports as quickly and efficiently as possible. For as passenger numbers continue to increase, the need for quicker passenger processing and aircraft turnaround times will intensify. Technology is, of course, already playing a key role in delivering speedy transfers and providing passengers with a smooth experience from the minute they arrive at the airport until the moment they take-off. The introduction of online check-in and e-passports are prime examples of steps already taken by airports to allow people to quickly check-in to their flight and pass through security. However, the real challenge occurs once passengers have passed through this point and head towards their gates to board planes; and this is where technological innovations can really be harnessed to further improve the fluidity and experience of airline passengers. Walkways are one such innovation that may be overlooked, but provide an essential service in moving people across vast open spaces in just seconds. And I believe that the evolution of existing walkways to true mass transportation systems is vital to ensure people continue to move within airports in a quick and efficient manner, removing the usual congestion or last-minute panic to get to their gate and releasing time for passengers to relax and enjoy the shops and other airport facilities. These systems will also help to make the airport experience more comfortable and seamless for elderly passengers or those with young children and prams. One such transportation system is the new ACCEL,
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which uses linear magnetic technology that can reach up to 12km/h – about the same average speed of a bus travelling around a city. The introduction of ACCEL, which greatly advances the concept of the Turbo Track previously developed by thyssenkrupp and installed at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, can create a reduction of connection times in airport terminals by up to 70%. Whilst passenger transfer within the airport is vitally important, so is the efficiency of the staff and crew responsible for the quick but safe turnaround of planes, and intelligently designed technological solutions can play a key role in ensuring this. This is why thyssenkrupp Elevator is working on a unique project funded by the EU with partners such as Airbus to provide automated docking assistance to aircraft, which will minimise the turnaround time whilst also reducing human error and accidents when parking and docking planes. Using artificial vision and machine learning, we believe that this pioneering technology will provide huge cost savings and help make airports safer and more efficient. Elevators are also becoming intelligent due to technology such as MAX, which is capable of identifying in real-time the need for replacements in components and systems in elevators before the end of their lifecycles, making getting stuck in an elevator a thing of the past. Another great innovation that has transformed the elevator industry and the design possibilities for buildings of the future is MULTI, an elevator that moves horizontally as well as vertically, providing a 50% increase in shaft transport capacity with multiple cabins running in a loop per shaft. Going forward it will be essential to build on these innovations whilst increasing current standards of security to alleviate any potential concerns that our overcrowded terminals may have.
RUNNING WBP NEWS HEAD
The latest news from ACI’s World Business Partners
Arconas finds a place in Montréal Montreal’s Pierre Trudeau International Airport’s newly expanded International jetty features over 1,000 new seats that are described by their Canadian manufacturer and supplier, Arconas, as “the best seat in the house”. Arconas says that airport operator, Aéroports de Montréal (ADM), chose its ‘Place’ seating model because in addition to coming with power, tablet arms and drink holders it compliments the terminal’s modern aesthetic. Lynn Gordon, Arconas’ vice president of airport solutions, says: “Features include tablet arms for a personal work surface, drink holders and integrated AC & USB power modules on every beam, while some ‘armless’ seat positions will allow passengers to spread out. “The new seats, which we believe offer every passenger ‘the best seat in the house’, are mindfully placed near concessions and retail, encouraging passengers to relax, recharge and refuel.” She notes that the innovative new seats have their own customised cable channel designed to help the
New self-service kiosks
airport reduce its coring requirements and bring power to areas where coring wasn’t possible. This is the first time Arconas has won a contract at Montréal-Trudeau and Gordon admits that the company and its local Québec-based agent have been working with the ADM team and their architects for some time on concepts and ideas in an effort to ensure that the installation reflected “their passenger service goals”. Does Arconas have plans to add more seating at the airport in the next 18 months? “We have supplied our inPower Bars (charging counters) and some products from our new partner, Green Furniture,” replies Gordon. “We will continue to work with ADM to support them with their evolving seating needs. With our diverse product base, we can offer airports a number of creative solutions not only for seating but also for charging, lounge and accent seating, waste receptacles, modular counters, etc.”
Dublin Airport has invested €2 million on 62 new self-service kiosks to improve the check-in experience for four of its major airline customers – Aer Lingus, Ryanair, CityJet and Flybe. Passengers using the new self-service bag drop kiosks can, depending on the airline, check-in for their flight, tag their own bag and dispatch it into the baggage system much faster than would be the case using traditional check-in desks. The gateway worked with its technology provider Rockwell Collins in conjunction with Pulse.aero to provide a tailored process for each airline. “The new self-service systems are already having a significant impact on check-in times at Dublin Airport,” enthuses Dublin Airport’s managing director, Vincent Harrison. “Touchless bag drop means that passengers can drop their bag at a self-service machine that requires only minor user interaction, thus eliminating many of the steps they have to deal with when checking in,” notes Chris Forrest, vice president of airport systems for Rockwell Collins.
Gemalto Location: Austin, TX, USA Contact: Neville Pattinson, senior vice president government sales E: neville.pattinson@gemalto.com W: www.gemalto.com Gemalto is a leader in digital security, enabling our clients to offer trusted digital services for billions of individuals and things. In the travel market, Gemalto provides secure electronic documents, document authentication solutions, identity solutions, border and visa management solutions along with kiosks and automated gates for the efficient management of travellers.
Innovative Business Software A/S Location: Copenhagen, Denmark Contact: Jens Middelbo Outzen, CEO & president E: jm@innovative.dk W: www.innovative.dk Innovative Business Software A/S is a Danish software company, which since 1982 has been developing solutions for receiving and managing all kinds of alarms, incidents and emergencies. Today, we are the leading provider of Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) solutions in Scandinavia within the private and public security sectors.
Crossing bridges
JBT Corporation has been awarded a multi-year, multi-phased contract for the supply of gate equipment to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The contract is for the replacement of boarding bridges, pre-conditioned air units and ground power equipment at concourses A, B, C, D, and T-South in Atlanta. The contract, awarded by the City of Atlanta through the Atlanta Airlines Terminal Corporation, calls for the supply of more than 80 boarding bridges and dozens of accompanying specialty air and power devices designed to service aircraft while parked at the gate. The Jetway boarding bridges being supplied are of a corrugated steel design common to the Atlanta airport. Delivery of the bridges is expected to start July 2016 and wrap up October 2018. JBT AeroTech’s president, David Burdakin, says: “JBT’s broad product range in airport gate equipment positioned us well to provide a comprehensive, single-source equipment contract at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.”
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HUMAN RESOURCES
PEOPLE
matters The value of respect Dr Richard Plenty and Terri Morrissey provide their thoughts on: Respect.
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efore making a final decision on recruiting someone for his senior team, James Cherry, president and CEO of Aéroports de Montréal, takes them to dinner at his local restaurant. He’s not checking their table manners, conversation skills or knowledge of fine cuisine. Rather he takes note of how they treat the waiter. Did they treat the waiter with respect? Jim, who is retiring later this year after a highly successful career, only hires those who do. He believes that the ability to engage stakeholders is the cornerstone of successful leadership and the key to long-term success. Being able to motivate, influence and persuade others depends on interacting with them as human beings with different and distinct personalities and circumstances. This means treating other people, whatever their role, background or level, with respect. Cherry’s viewpoint is consistent with current thinking on organisational leadership and is an important building block for airports aspiring to sustainable high performance: • Leading and inspiring others in times of change requires airport leaders to be good communicators. They must be able to explain things to people at all levels in their organisation and listen carefully to what they have to say. • The relentless focus on the ‘customer’ required for airports to be successful needs people to work together seamlessly. Collaboration and co-operation are essential for both
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consistent, repeatable operational performance and innovation. ‘Respect’ provides the behavioural underpinning for better organisation connectivity. • Casting the net widely and without prejudice when recruiting and selecting people makes it far easier to attract and retain the best talent. An organisational environment where differences are valued, facilitates this approach. Unfortunately, ‘respect for others’ is still too often put on the back burner, particularly where the stakes are high and there is intense pressure for results. In a competitive world – whether it be business, sport or politics – there is always the temptation to shred the reputation of peers, colleagues and competitors in an attempt to gain immediate advantage. Indeed, some businesses achieve high growth and excellent financial results – for a time – with few concessions to their customers. In our own sector, there are many airports which focus nearly all their efforts on infrastructure and pay very little attention to their people. In practice, this kind of approach is rarely sustainable. Too many enemies are made and too many bridges burnt. Apparently simple solutions to complex issues are found not to work in practice. There is a strong resistance to change. So making the effort to develop a culture of respect is a much better option. It takes time and may require investing in education, training and personal and professional development to give people the understanding, skills and confidence to be able to contribute fully.
AIRPORT WORLD/AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2016
The search is on for a new CEO at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport after Thomas Naughton announced his decision to retire at the end of September. Naughton, who has been at Wayne County Airport Authority (WCAA) for 14 years and CEO since 2012, says: “It has been an honour and a privilege to lead one of the best teams of aviation professionals in the world.” Airports Authority of India has appointed Dr Guruprasad Mohapatra as its new chairman. Mohapatra, who moves from the position of Joint Secretary in the Department of Commerce for the Indian government, has worked extensively in the power sector, urban development and industry. Vijay Bathija is the new chief executive officer of Canada’s John C Munro Hamilton International Airport. Bathija comes to the gateway from the Air Canada Leisure Group, which includes Air Canada Vacations and Air Canada rouge. Elsewhere in North America, Justin Erbacci has been appointed deputy executive director – chief innovation and technology officer for Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA); Amy Gonzalez is the new general counsel of San Diego County Airport Authority; and Darryl Jones has joined Denver International Airport as its new chief real estate officer. Swedish airport operator, Swedavia, has announced that Jonas Abrahamsson will be their next president and CEO, although he may not be onboard until January 2017. His appointment ends Swedavia’s search for a full-time president and CEO since Torborg Chetkovich left in December 2015. “Jonas has the right background and previous experience to lead Swedavia in a time of investment needs, now facing the company, in conjunction with increasing air traffic,” says Åke Svensson, chairman of the board at Swedavia.
About the authors Dr Richard Plenty is managing director of This Is… and delivers ACI’s ‘Airport Human Resources’ training. Terri Morrissey is chairperson of This Is… and CEO of the Psychological Society of Ireland. Contact them through info@thisis.eu
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