ISSUE 26 // NOVEMBER 2020
Long-Term Carbon Goal Study Engages Strongly with Asia-Pacific Members SAFETY Drafting of GRF and Disabled Aircraft Removal Guidelines Underway • COVID Guidelines and Environmental Best Practices Presented at ICAO Operations Group • Join the Regional Safety Committee
SECURITY ACI Advocates for Balanced Approach to Aviation Security and Public Health • Impact of Social Distancing on Airport Security ECONOMICS Regional Economics Committee Discusses 2021 Work Plan • Conditional Slot Waivers Widely Adopted for Winter 2020 Season • COVID-19: Week Traffic Update (Week 44)
ENVIRONMENT Long-Term Carbon Goal Study Engages Strongly with Asia-Pacific Members • Airport Carbon Accreditation Updates • Deadline Green
Airports Recognition 2021 Approaching • Regional Environment Committee Stays on Track through Virtual Meetings • 40th ACI World Environment Standing Committee
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ACI World Airport IT Standing Committee Updates AIRPORT CORNER Airports in Korea Go Touchless with Innovative Biometric Solution
Drafting of GRF and Disabled Aircraft Removal Guidelines Underway
The ACI Asia-Pacific Regional Operational Safety Committee has initiated the drafting of new safety guidelines on two topical issues. RUNWAY SURFACE CONDITIONS The first is on the reporting of runway surface conditions in the new ICAO Global Reporting Format (GRF) requirement which takes effect in November 2021. The purpose of the new reporting format is to help pilots better understand “how slippery� the runway really is and thus avoid accidents, sometimes fatal, in which the aircraft overshoots or veers off the runway.
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DISABLED AIRCRAFT REMOVAL The second set of new guidelines is on the removal of aircraft stranded on a runway, due to accident or having lost power. The guidelines are aimed at helping airports plan and execute a prompt and proper removal of the aircraft.
COVID Guidelines and Environmental Best Practices Presented at ICAO Operations Group
During the ICAO aerodrome operations and planning group meeting held from 10-13 November, ACI presented its guidelines on operational recovery from COVID-19 and a regional compilation of best practices in water management at airports. The meeting also included discussions on planning and
design of aerodromes, aerodrome certification and Airport – Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM).
Join the Regional Operational Safety Committee
The ACI Asia-Pacific Regional Operational Safety Committee met virtually in early October to commence the drafting of guidance material. The committee meeting also discussed the topical issue of airport operations during COVID-19, especially
the establishment and coordination of emergency procedures in a public health crisis. The next safety committee meeting is tentatively scheduled for end of March 2021.
For more information on any of the topics mentioned in this section, please contact Mr. SL Wong, Head of Technical Affairs, Safety, Capacity and ATM at sl@aci-asiapac.aero. The Voice of Asia-Pacific Airports | 3
Security
ACI Advocates for Balanced Approach to Aviation Security and Public Health Increasing the level of confidence in biosafety along the journey is one of the key factors to bring passengers back. Based on the recent ACI ASQ Global Traveler Survey, the majority of the respondents expect some health measures will be implemented the next time they visit an airport. In response to the evolving passenger expectations, airport operators have implemented a wide range of additional preventive and hygienic measures to ensure the health and wellbeing of passengers while traveling through the airport, especially in areas such as the security checkpoint where close interaction between passengers and staff may occur. COMMON MEASURES Particular to airport security operations, some of the common measures implemented to minimize the risk of transmission at the security checkpoint include: • • • • • •
Mandatory wearing of PPE by screeners Physical distancing throughout the checkpoint Adjustment to current screening procedures to minimize physical contact with passengers Installation of plexiglass at the secondary bag search area Provision of hand sanitizers for passengers after screening Enhanced disinfection of security trays and equipment.
SECURITY CHALLENGES Despite minimizing the risk of transmission at the security checkpoint being of great priority, it is also equally important for airports to maintain the highest level of security at all times. The ACI Asia-Pacific Regional Aviation Security Committee (RASC) identified a number of challenges for airport security operations when traffic gradually returns, including:
• Budgetary cutback on future security
investment, e.g., deferral or suspension of
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security equipment upgrade, and security peoplepower, e.g., salary reduction or layoff; • Aviation security resources being diverted to public health screening, e.g., security screeners being responsible for temperature check; • Possible new security risks due to COVID-19 e.g., insider threats due to employee layoff and concealment of prohibited items under PPE; and • Reduction in handling capacity of security checkpoint e.g., the various simulation analyses run by the ACI Smart Security programme estimate that the passenger handling capacity of airport security checkpoint could be reduced 30-70%, depending on the airport layout and operational models, if the 2-meter social distancing rule is applied. ACI Asia-Pacific will continue to assist airports in addressing these challenges and advocate to policy makers for a balanced approach to aviation security and public health in the restart and recovery phase.
Impact of Social Distancing on Airport Security
To help members understand the significant impact of physical distancing on airport security checkpoints, an ACI webinar was held. The webinar presented simulations which use alternative measures at checkpoints. Experts discussed findings from two video representations: one for highthroughput airports (greater than 250 pax/hour per lane), and another one for airports with a more standard flow of traffic (less than 250 pax/hour per lane). Access the recording here.
For more information on any of the topics mentioned in this section, please contact Mr. Gary Leung, Manager, Security and Facilitation, at gary@aci-asiapac.aero. The Voice of Asia-Pacific Airports | 5
Regional Economics Committee Discusses 2021 Work Plan In the most recent Regional Economics Committee meeting, members shared about the most pressing issues they faced and their experiences thereto. They included implementation of COVID-19 related public health measures at their respective airports, the challenges faced in dealing with border controls and re-starting the industry, and uncertainties surrounding forecasting for longer term infrastructure development needs. Also on the agenda was the development of the Committee Work Plan for 2021, incorporating feedback from the ACI Asia-Pacific Regional Board. The Work Plan consists of: Two existing projects dealing with COVID-19 and the path to recovery will continue in 2021: • •
Bi-weekly monitoring of passenger traffic, and Work group to assess the financial impact of public health measures on airports.
Three new initiatives will be activated: • COVID-19 impact on overall financial performance of airports; • Topical study on economic sustainability of airports toward recovery (suggested topics include: cost saving ideas/ resource optimization strategies; drivers for traffic in the recovery period etc.); and • Airport privatization – financing and private
participation. In anticipation of the funding need and expected increase of private sector participation in airport development cost postCOVID-19, a new working group was established to review privatization policy and concession framework of airports. Two longer term project concepts are in work: • Regional industry research on the aviation landscape post COVID-19; and • Environmental concerns and economic impact on regional air travel. The Committee Work Plan was shared with the Regional Board at the end of October and the planning work on some projects will commence in the fourth quarter of this year.
Conditional Slot Waivers Widely Adopted for Winter 2020 Season In response to airlines’ call for a blanket relaxation of the 80% slot usage requirements, ACI Asia-Pacific in support of ACI World has been advocating for a conditional waiver for the winter season. ACI AsiaPacific reached out to policy makers in 11 countries: Australia, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Maldives, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and made substantial inroads in 6 | The Voice of Asia-Pacific Airports
several countries where the debate was previously dominated by airlines. Among the conditions proposed, the timeline when airlines are required to return unused slots to the pool was the main point of contention. In line with ACI Asia-Pacific’s position which supported a 4-week return deadline, conditional waivers have now been granted in countries/ territories including: Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong SAR, India (Delhi and Mumbai), Singapore, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates. In Japan and Republic of Korea, a 3-week return deadline was agreed.
Looking ahead for the Summer 2021 Season, ACI Asia-Pacific together with the Regional Slot Allocation Task Force and the ACI World Expert Group on Slots will further develop industry position on the following key topics: • Slot usage requirements: the near-term policy objectives are to protect airport connectivity and gradually incentivize the return of pre-COVID slots to the pool for reallocation in 2022; • Allocation process, connectivity and competition; • Technology: consistency between booking systems, slot database & increased transparency; and • Bankruptcy and liquidation proceedings.
COVID-19: Week Traffic update (Week 44) ACI Asia-Pacific continues to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on traffic and connectivity.
observed during the respective national holidays in early October.
Weekly trending of passenger volume up to early November for both Asia-Pacific and the Middle East indicated the overall pace of recovery continues to be slow and highly sensitive to resurgence of COVID-19 cases. On aggregate, year-on-year decline in passenger volume for Week 44 was at -71%. China and the Republic of Korea are leading the recovery, driven by strong domestic demand. A noticeable rebound in passenger traffic in both markets was
To learn more about the findings or participate in this weekly traffic tracking initiative, please contact Mr. Philip Kwok, Economic Research Analyst, at philip@aci-asiapac.aero.
For more information on any of the topics mentioned in this section, please contact Ms. Suzanne Tong, Senior Manager, Economics and Statistics, at suzanne@aci-asiapac.aero. The Voice of Asia-Pacific Airports | 7
Long-Term Carbon Goal Study Engages Strongly with Asia-Pacific Members In preparation for an industry response to the landmark Special Report on Global Warming, published in October 2018 by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), recommending all industry sectors to reach net zero human-caused carbon emissions by the year 2050, the ACI World Long-Term Carbon Goal (LTCG) study continued its progress in both scientific literature research and engagement with airports worldwide in deducing possible long-term carbon goals. In November, a short online survey was sent to all airports to identify bottlenecks, emerging technologies and key implementation challenges in decarbonization. In the Asia-Pacific and Middle East region, sixteen airports submitted carbon data to the study and seventeen CEO interviews have been completed. ACI Asia-Pacific World Business Partner Airbiz and consultant ICF conducted a workshop for the AsiaPacific region on 21 October to collect comments and generate further discussion with forty-one members. Mr. Ken Conway, head of Environment and Sustainability from Airbiz and Project Manager for the LTCG presented the study progress to the ACI Asia-Pacific Regional Board meeting on 30 October. ABOUT NET ZERO CARBON In Asia-Pacific and Middle East, airports are at different stages of the decarbonization journey depending on their geographic, climate differences and availability of renewable energy sources. Currently seven airports have achieved carbon neutrality status through Airport Carbon Accreditation programme. Net zero carbon represents a step further compared to carbon neutrality. In order to achieve net zero carbon, airports must reduce energy and fuel consumption and switch to zero carbon energy and fuel sources, including but not limited to purchasing renewable electricity from the national grid or through 8 | The Voice of Asia-Pacific Airports
dedicated power purchase agreements, selfgenerating renewable electricity and/or using zero carbon emission vehicles. SOLAR POWER Bearing in mind the projected long-term rapid growth of traffic in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East region and the related CO2 emission, airports will need to mitigate the climate change challenge ahead. There are possible opportunities in renewable energy that could save costs. ACI Asia-Pacific and the Regional Environment Committee are working on a guidance document for airports to perform feasibility studies of on-site Solar PV (photovoltaic) projects at their airports.
Airport Carbon Accreditation Updates Congratulations to Christchurch Airport and Indira Gandhi International Airport for being the first airport in the region reaching Level 4, Transformation and Level 4+, Transition!
LEVEL 4+, TRANSITION •
Indira Gandhi International Airport, India
LEVEL 4, TRANSFORMATION •
Christchurch Airport, New Zealand
LEVEL 3+, NEUTRALITY • • • •
Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, India Kempegowda International Airport, India Queen Alia International Airport, Jordan Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, India
• •
Sharjah Airport, United Arab Emirates Sunshine Coast Airport, Australia
LEVEL 3, OPTIMISATION • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Abu Dhabi International Airport, United Arab Emirates Adelaide Airport, Australia Brisbane International Airport, Australia Chiang Mai International Airport, Thailand Don Mueang International Airport, Thailand Dubai International Airport, United Arab Emirates Dubai World Central, United Arab Emirates Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, China Hamad International Airport, Qatar Hat Yai International Airport, Thailand Hong Kong International Airport, Hong Kong SAR Incheon Airport, Republic of Korea Kansai International Airport, Japan Kaohsiung International Airport, Chinese Taipei
LEVEL 2, REDUCTION • • • • • • • • • •
Aéroport International de Noumea-La Tontouta, New Caledonia Bahrain International Airport, Bahrain Biju Patnaik International Airport Bhubaneswar, India Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, China Christchurch Airport, New Zealand Gold Coast Airport, Australia Hobart International Airport, Australia Kobe Airport, Japan Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport Varanasi, India Macau International Airport, Macau SAR
• • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • •
Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia Mae Fah Luang Chiang Rai International Airport, Thailand Nadi International Airport, Fiji Narita International Airport, Japan Osaka International Airport, Japan Parafield Airport, Australia Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport, China Singapore Changi Airport, Singapore Suvarnabhumi Airport, Thailand Sydney Airport, Australia Taoyuan International Airport, Chinese Taipei
Melbourne Airport, Australia Mount Isa Airport, Australia Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport Kolkata, India Perth Airport, Australia Phnom Penh International Airport, Cambodia Salalah Airport, Oman Siem Reap International Airport, Cambodia Sihanoukville International Airport, Cambodia Townsville Airport, Australia Trivandrum International Airport, India
LEVEL 1, MAPPING • • • •
Duqm Airport, Oman Hawke’s Bay Airport, New Zealand Longreach Airport, Australia Muscat International Airport, Oman
• •
Palmerston North Airport, New Zealand Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport, China
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Deadline Green Airports Recognition 2021 Approaching
The deadline for the Green Airports Recognition 2021 is Wednesday 9 December 2020 12:00 noon, HKG Time (GMT +8 hours). This year’s recognition programme is focused on Air Quality Management, specifically emphasizing the benefit of local air quality management benefit rather than CO2 emission and excluding indoor air quality. This theme includes projects that aim to improve airport local air quality and air pollutant reduction. From the results of the Environmental Survey 2019, 34% of airports highlighted air quality as a priority. With best practices implemented by airports in the region, air pollutants such as Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), volatile organic compounds (VOC), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Hydrocarbons (HC) and Particulate Matters (PM) are monitored and reduced to minimize the negative impacts to local communities. Without proper air quality management, air pollution has known negative
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environmental and health impacts such as chemical smog, acid rain and human respiratory disease. ACI Asia-Pacific encourages members to share best practices in Air Quality Management, and promote their efforts to the local community. Please download the Programme Description, Application Form and Project Form to participate.
Regional Environment Committee Stays on Track through Virtual Meetings In the most recent committee meeting, ACI AsiaPacific presented the current progress of the LTCG study. Members were interested in the study’s progress and are looking forward to the final report in April 2021 before further discussions on the results and way forward for the region. Members also discussed the related topics of climate change mitigations and climate change adaptation. ACI Asia-Pacific also presented initial results of the first Aircraft Noise Management Survey, which was developed by the Aircraft Noise Management Working Group under the guidance of the Regional Environment Committee. The survey was structured based on ICAO’s Balanced Approach to Aircraft Noise Management: • • • •
Reduction of noise at source Land-use planning and management Noise abatement operational procedures Operating restrictions
Pending further data collection and analysis, the Aircraft Noise Management Working Group will identify trends and airport members’ needs, as well
as look for opportunities for advocacy and potential development of guidance documents. Other agenda items included the Regional Environment Committee’s current Terms of Reference, Environmental Survey and Airport Carbon Accreditation updates. Separated into three sessions over three weeks to allow time for discussion, the 13th virtual Regional Environment Committee meeting concluded on 20 October.
40th ACI World Environment Standing Committee The 40th meeting of the ACI World Environment Standing Committee (WEnSC) focused on COVID-19 recovery and climate change. Following a progress report on the Long-Term Carbon Goal project, useful comments were received to fine tune the study progress.
LTCG AND CAPEX Members of the ACI World Economics Standing Committee joined the WEnSC meeting to discuss the linkage between the LTCG study and the Airport Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) projects and how sustainable infrastructure investment will be required for decarbonization. It was clear financial support was required to continue the decarbonization roadmap as new technology and investment (e.g., renewable energy system, water and energy optimization) will be necessary. As environmental sustainability projects are not simple CAPEX and financial decisions, it was recommended to conduct
a longer-term qualitative cost-benefit analysis. Participants also discussed the future demand for sustainable aviation fuel and other technologies (electrification, hydrogen, etc.) that need the partnering with airlines. Ms. Khairiah Salleh, Chair of ACI Asia-Pacific Regional Environment Committee also presented Regional Environment Committee work progress of 2020 and Work plan 2021.
For more information on any of the topics mentioned in this section, please contact Mr. Ken Lau, Senior Manager, Environment and Airport Information Technology at ken@aci-asiapac.aero. The Voice of Asia-Pacific Airports | 11
ACI World Airport IT Standing Committee Updates
The ACI World IT Standing Committee meeting was held virtually on 20-21 October. Among the 40 attendees, nine represented Asia-Pacific and Middle East airports. Members were provided updates from various working groups: • • • • • •
Due to COVID-19, some projects encountered delays but progress of the API portal through the ACI Airport Health Measures Portal initiative was expedited.
Airport Community Recommended Information Services (ACRIS) Cybersecurity Smart Data Hub (tools for identifying the relationship between data coming from multiple sources) Digital transformation Digital Twin (digital replica of a living or nonliving physical entity e.g., a virtual replica of an airport) Artificial intelligence
For more information on any of the topics mentioned in this section, please contact Mr. Ken Lau, Senior Manager, Environment and Airport Information Technology at ken@aci-asiapac.aero. 12 | The Voice of Asia-Pacific Airports
Airport Corner Airports in Korea Go Touchless with Innovative Biometric Solution The COVID-19 crisis has accelerated the digital transformation of airport industry, with touchless technology and automation playing a key role in the transformation to minimize human contacts. Korea Airports Corporation (KAC), which manages 14 airports in Korea, recently rolled out a smart airport master plan pledging its efforts to implement more innovative technologies across all passenger check points, ensuring seamless passenger journey. The most notable in this innovation journey is the application of its palm vein identification system.
of Jeju Airport to adopt biometric authentication payment system. With its implementation, which is expected to be around the end of the 2021, passengers will be able to make payments by simply scanning their palms. KAC plans to take advantage of other cutting-edge technologies including artificial intelligence and Internet of Things to increase the efficiency of airport operations and provide high quality passenger service.
Last year, KAC deployed a palm vein identification system at all of the 14 KAC airports, including Gimpo International Airport and Jeju Airport. Under this system, passengers can identify themselves through the unique vein patterns of their palms scanned through the device. Like an iris or fingerprint, vein patters on the palm have been used as a way to verify identification due to the uniqueness of the patterns. But unlike fingerprints, verification is achieved without any physical contact between an individual’s hand and the device using infrared ray sensors. Surreptitious copying of vein patterns is far more difficult. The user rate of the service jumped dramatically with the spread of COVID-19. The user rate for the service was only 7% last year, but the figure more than doubled reaching 16%, from January to September this year. KAC plans to expand this biometric authentication system to all passenger process for other facilities inside the airport such as currency exchanges, food and beverage stations and duty-free stores. KAC recently signed a memorandum of understanding with JDC, the duty-free operator
Mr. Yeongyu Jung, Manager, Smart Airport implementation, Korea Airports Corporation, has worked in the Smart Airport team since 2016. He is in charge of topics such as One ID passenger process, passenger flow management, automation. In his free time, he enjoys cycling and running to prepare for a triathlon. The Voice of Asia-Pacific Airports | 13
The Voice of Asia-Pacific Airports
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