Airport Focus International Jan-Feb 2017

Jan/Feb 2017

WINTER GATEWAYS Alpine airports keep the slopes moving

GREEN HORIZON

Bio-fuels breaking through?

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PASSENGER FLOW SITA’s security blueprint

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EDITORIAL

Welcome Whenever the commercial aviation industry sits down to have a serious discussion about sustainability and reducing CO2 emissions, fuel is always the enormous elephant in the room. The reliance on fossil fuels in order to fly planes around the world and the growing number of people who are booking flights every single day particularly in the booming Asia Pacific region, keep that jagged line on the pollutant graph heading northwards. Since 1986 global jet fuel consumption has roughly doubled from 2,400,000 to 5,000,000 barrels per day.

These emissions are then compounded by the pollution generated by road traffic and other contributory factors at high capacity hub airports serving the world’s biggest cities. The only news of genuine progress on this front is that some of these airports have managed to row back on their emissions due to concerted efforts to improve sustainability

including the use of electric vehicles and greener power sources to service their infrastructure.

Aviation companies and airports get a bad rap from green lobby groups but in all truth the industry is uncomfortably aware of its reliance on fossil fuels.

This is as much about economics as it is about environmental ethics. Fuel is now the biggest cost for airlines - if you take a plane carrying 100 passengers the cost of just the fuel will swallow the total ticket price and taxes of 30 of those customers. For larger planes operating long haul routes that number is even higher. According to IATA , the airline industry has been forced to use a combination of stronger revenue growth and higher efficiency gains to offset the large impact of higher fuel costs.

However, though the industry has made substantial improvements it still faces a degree of “catch-up” with the actual oil price.

If single sky initiatives such as SESAR ever truly get off the ground

“The industry is uncomfortably aware of its reliance on fossil fuels” there is further potential to make significant fuel savings globally by the more efficient use of airspace.

There is also no shortage of ongoing research projects and live trials with bio-fuels. In January last year Oslo Airport became the first in the world to make biofuels a genuine part of its day to day business operations. But the representative from Norwegian airport operator Avinor at the recent Airports Going Green event at Schiphol, hinted at some of the legal and administrative hurdles that need to be cleared in order for bio-fuels to be introduced into the aviation fuel economy. There is still much work to do.

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS 1 Dr Michael Kerkloh CEO, Munich International Airport 2 Paul Reid Executive Board Member, NATS 3 Bob Haywood Consultant & former Director, WS Atkins & Partners 4 Neil Pritchard Airside Strategy and Development, Heathrow Airport 5 Thomas Torsten-Meyer Former Senior Vice President, Airport Operations, Munich Airport 6 Foo Sek Min Executive Vice President (Corporate), Changi Airport Group.

7 Mikkos Sjöberg Executive Director, Airport Cluster Finland

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CONTENTS

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26 Baggage

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Managing director Antony Begley – abegley@55north.com +44 (0) 141 222 5380

Designer Lisa Deakin – ldeakin@55north.com +44 (0) 141 222 5388

Editor Gary Mason – gmason@55north.com +44 (0)141 222 2100

Events and Operations Manager Cara Begley – cbegley@55north.com +44 (0) 141 222 5381

Sales manager Robert Aitken – raitken@55north.com +44 (0) 141 222 5302

Events and Operations Assistant Chloe Buchanan – cbuchanan@55north.com +44 (0) 141 222 5383

Senior designer Richard Chaudhry – rchaudhry@55north.com +44 (0) 141 222 5300

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Contents NEWS 6

LJLA claims surge in passenger numbers

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Airports share knowledge at APOC open day

7

Highland airports report 10 per cent growth

8

IATA reports strong passenger traffic growth

TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT 9

CAAi unveils new international air law training course

FEATURES WINTER OPERATIONS 12 WHITE FLIGHT Four airports in France and Switzerland service the huge influx of Alpine sports enthusiasts during the winter season. This requires close cooperation and attention to detail in ensuring that airports and their connecting road infrastructure are kept running smoothly. Gary Mason reports SECURITY 18 OUT OF TIME Airports are stuck in a time warp when it comes to streamlining passenger processes. Gary Mason hears from one airport which is turning to existing technology to come up with a brand new concept airportfocusinternational.com

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SECURITY THOUGHT LEADERSHIP 22 STATE OF THE ART Matthys Serfontein, Vice President, Airport Solutions with SITA says airports have now reached a tipping point in terms of being able to offer a truly seamless, walk through experience for passengers SUSTAINABILITY 26 GREEN HORIZON Enforceable international agreements to reduce emissions and the widespread use of bio-fuels are two of the major objectives of greater sustainability in commercial air travel. Gary Mason reports from the Airports Going Green Conference held at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam at the end of last year to hear what progress has been made AIRPORT PARKING 30 Q&A Airport Focus talks to Julian Sperring-Toy, Managing Director, ADVAM UK about the need for convenience, value and loyalty in the airport parking sector 34

INSIDER

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NEWS

LLJA CLAIMS SURGE IN PASSENGER NUMBERS A busier than expected December for Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LJLA) helped take total passenger figures for 2016 to over 4.8 million – an increase of 11% compared to 2015 and the highest levels for five years. According to management.

Passenger numbers have increased every month now for almost two years compared to the same period the year before, with almost 500,000 more passengers choosing to use the Airport last year compared to 2015.

Management claims that it has one of the highest ratings in terms of the time taken to pass through the airport both for departing and returning passengers with some of the shortest queuing and waiting times.

It says it has also continued to be one of the best airports in the UK for ‘on-time performance’ with more scheduled flights departing on time than the majority of other UK airports.

Andrew Cornish, CEO for Liverpool John Lennon Airport commented, “2016 was a great year for the Airport and our busiest in recent years. We really appreciate the support of the region’s travellers, who are taking advantage of the increased choice of destinations and operators from their local airport.

“This is also excellent news for the region too. A successful LJLA creates more job opportunities both onsite and indirectly

across the region, as well as helping to attract more inward investment and boosting the region’s visitor economy.

Looking ahead; improved passenger facilities and some of the industry’s best operational performance means that we have also been able to create the right airport environment for our airline and tour operator partners to commit to further growth in 2017.”

AIRPORTS SHARE KNOWLEDGE AT APOC OPEN DAY Fifty airport and industry stakeholders came to the EUROCONTROL Experimental Centre to learn, share experiences and have real hands-on practice on a simulation platform at the APOC Open Day. An integral part of SESAR1 developments is EUROCONTROL’s APOC validation and simulation platform. Delegates were briefed on five recent simulations that were carried out at Paris Charles de Gaulle, Alicante, London Heathrow, Madrid-Barajas and Toulouse.

These airports used the SESAR principles of common information-sharing and reinforced collaborative decisionmaking for simulating both airside and landside processes. An important feature was that, in each case, it was the airport itself that defined the operational scenario so making the simulation highly relevant.

Two very different platform capabilities were demonstrated: the User Driven Prioritisation Process (UDPP) toolset and its “what-if” feature.

In the UDDP demonstration, organised by the team from Brétigny, delegates had an overview of the concept of equitable airline flight prioritisation in capacity-constrained situations.

They saw how the simulation platform could facilitate decisionmaking and point out potential impact on future flight rotations.

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from Madrid Barajas, showed how the impact of closing a runway can be measured in terms of delay and stand occupancy for different arrival and departure capacity balancing scenarios in the next two hours - all done in just six minutes.

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HIGHLAND AIRPORT REPORTS 10 PER CENT GROWTH Scottish regional airport operator Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd (HIAL) has reported a 10 per cent increase in passenger numbers at its 11 airports across Scotland in 2016.

The latest figures show a total of 1,606,168 travellers used HIAL airports during 2016, an increase of 154,375 passengers on the 2015 total of 1,451,792 passengers - an increase of 10.6%.

Inverness Airport further illustrated its popularity and increasingly important role to the Highland region and economy by welcoming 796,854 passengers in 2016, a 17.4% year-on- year rise in passenger numbers from 2015, when it had 678,683 passengers – an increase of 118,171 passengers, thanks in part to continued interest in European routes to Geneva, Zurich and Dublin and increased traffic to UK airports such as Manchester.

Greater connectivity to hub

airports including London Heathrow and Schiphol, Amsterdam contributed to its success.

British Airways and its Oneworld partnership operates the InvernessHeathrow route, with Dutch operator KLM and its SkyTeam partners operating the flight from Inverness to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.

Robust growth was observed at eight of the organisation’s 11 airports across Scotland, Sumburgh Airport on the Shetland Islands saw an additional 19,186 passengers, due to regular scheduled flights supporting the oil and gas sector, and an increase in offshore traffic using the airport.

Barra Airport, which celebrated its 80th anniversary in summer 2016, saw passenger numbers increase by nearly a fifth (19.1%) for the year, while Tiree Airport also recorded a hike of 18.6% in additional

passengers, both due to additional rotations to these popular holiday destinations.

Dundee Airport published exemplary growth figures for 2016, with an additional 15,982 passengers opting to fly from the Tayside airport to destinations in mainland Europe and the UK – an increase of 69.6% on 2015’s passenger figures. An announcement on the 2017 London route is due shortly.

HIAL Managing Director Inglis Lyon said: “Our regional airports have a key role to play in strengthening Scotland’s

economy and offering great choice for leisure and business passengers.”

“We will continue to invest in our airports, work in partnership with the airlines and destination airports, and further develop our customer service as we attract new business and look to cement our growth in the future.”

Passenger numbers declined at Wick John O’Groats and Stornoway due to reduced demand from energy sector services to-and-from Aberdeen and Campbeltown recorded a slight fall.

MET OFFICE LAUNCH NEW BLOG FOR AVIATION PROFESSIONALS Met Office Aviation has launched a new blog designed for sharing the latest aviation meteorology knowledge, insights and scientific developments.

A new blog has been designed specifically for professionals working in or with the aviation sector - and for anyone else with an interest in aviation

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meteorology.

The blog aims to deliver insight that is useful to the aviation industryraising awareness and knowledge of meteorological impacts and generating discussions. This will make use of ‘bitesize’ content in various formats including videos, graphics and text.

It aims to cover a wide range of topics of interest to the industry, from exploring different types of weather that have an impact on the industry, to new scientific developments.

A major role of the UK’s Met Office is to provide meteorological advice to

the aviation industry – it is responsible for forecasting the weather across two thirds of the world’s airspace.

The Met Office are one of only two World Area Forecast Centres (WAFCs), providing high-level weather information globally. The Met Office are also the official weather supplier to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and National Air Traffic services (NATs) and one of nine Volcanic Ash Advisory Centres (VAACs) – providing reports and forecasts for the movement of volcanic ash plumes covering the UK, Iceland and the north-eastern part of the North Atlantic Ocean.

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NEWS

IATA REPORTS STRONG PASSENGER TRAFFIC GROWTH The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced global passenger traffic results for November 2016 showing the strongest demand growth in nine months.

Total revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) rose 7.6% compared to November 2015. Capacity (available seat kilometers or ASKs) increased by 6.5%, and load factor rose 0.8 percentage points to 78.9%.

“Stronger demand for air travel reflects—and is supporting--a pick-up in the global economic cycle. As the stimulus effect of lower oil prices recedes in the rear view mirror, the strength of the economic cycle will play a key role in the pace of demand growth in 2017,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO. November international passenger demand rose 8.0% compared to the year earlier, with airlines in all regions showing growth. Total capacity climbed 6.8%, and load factor edged up 0.9 percentage points to 77.1%.

European Carriers saw demand increase by 8.3% in November 2016, while traffic grew at an annualized pace of 12% over the past five months or so. This suggests that the disruption caused by terrorism and political instability has lifted, against a backdrop of a growing Eurozone economy. Capacity rose 6.8% and load factor climbed 1.1 percentage point to 80.8%.

Asia-Pacific airlines’ November traffic also climbed 8.3% compared to the year-ago period. Capacity increased 7.1% and load factor rose 0.8 percentage points to 77.4%. The strong upward trend in demand has slowed recently but it is not clear whether this is a longer-term development or just a brief pause.

Middle East carriers led all regions with a 12.2% demand increase. But the upward trend in the region’s seasonally adjusted traffic has paused, with November’s level coming in unchanged from that of July. Capacity rose 11.6% and load factor rose 0.3 percentage points to 68.7%.

North American airlines’ traffic climbed 1.5% in November.

Traffic across the Pacific is growing rapidly but North Atlantic

demand is moderating. Capacity rose 1.2% and load factor edged up 0.2 percentage points to 78.7%.

Domestic travel demand rose 7.1% in November 2016 compared to the same month in 2015, but results continued to vary widely, with China, India and Russia showing double-digit growth while demand declined in Brazil and Japan. Domestic capacity climbed 6.1%, and load factor improved 0.8 percentage points to 82.2%.

“The airline industry continues to deliver strong results.

In 2017, for a third consecutive year, the industry’s return on invested capital will exceed the cost of capital. Passengers benefit from the industry’s success. Travel has never been more accessible—with great fares, many options and more destinations. Nevertheless uncertainty lies ahead. The threat of terrorism, questions over the durability of the economic upswing, rising oil prices and increasing protectionist rhetoric are among the concerns. The industry has reshaped itself and strengthened its resilience to shocks. We should see another solid year of collective profitability for the airlines in 2017. But we must be vigilant,” said de Juniac.

LIEGE GAINS FROM BRUSSELS AIRPORT TERRORISM DISRUPTION Liege Airport has strengthened its position as Belgium’s leading cargo airport with 660,604 tonnes of freight compared with 649,829 tonnes in 2015 according to the airport management.

“There has been sustained business growth for all our companies with significant increases for CAL, El Al and Qatar Airways”, said Luc Partoune, Managing Director. “In a transition phase 8 / AF / Jan/Feb 2017

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following the buyout by Fedex, TNT continues to perform well and remains our most important client.”

The airport says that there has also been a clear increase in passenger numbers following the terrorist attack carried out last year on Brussels Airport. More than 382,000 passengers transited the Liege Airport terminal as a result (an increase of 27%). “This has been an exceptional year due to the fact that in three weeks we

handled 150,000 passengers who were unfamiliar with our airport and 1,600 aircraft movements of companies also new to our facilities,” Partoune added.

In terms of real estate, Liege Airport is pursuing its diversification strategy via its subsidiary Liege Airport Business Park.

Occupancy of office space is running at more than 93%, it claims.

A new 6,000 sq m cargo hall will be built in 2017 with a 4 million euro investment. airportfocusinternational.com

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TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT

TRAINING and RECRUITMENT CAAi unveils new International Air Law blended-learning training course

C

AA International (CAAi), part of the UK CAA International Directorate, has launched a brand new training course designed to support aviation managers across the industry with a solid grounding in international aviation law. This course explores the international conventions and agreements that govern civil aviation and examines how these international laws affect the everyday work of those working in the industry.

Developed by senior UK CAA legal experts and e-Learning technology specialists LEO Learning, the course uses a blend of both online distance learning and a one-day interactive classroom session. The online modules feature a mix

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of high-impact images, diagrams, audio clips, animations, infographics and videos, designed to create maximum impact and user engagement. The course takes the delegate on a passenger journey; from buying an airline ticket, to being at the airport all the way to arriving at the final destination. The course explores how international air law affects all areas of aviation from the perspective of a paying passenger.

In the classroom, delegates have the opportunity to apply their distance learning with a UK CAA expert. Through group discussions of past experiences, case study reviews and general observations, delegates can delve deeper into how international laws affect different scenarios and situations, the key international conventions and how this affects the work you do every day.

Adrian Sayce, Senior Technical Advisor for CAAi and former ICAO President for the Air Navigation Commission said, “This course integrates the different elements of law to create a coherent and clear presentation of air law. This is done by following a typical passenger journey and reviewing the associated legal aspects.

This is quite a different approach to the traditional teaching of air law and it makes the air law course both interesting and relevant to anyone involved in aviation. The law underpins every aspect of aviation. Law is not something that only lawyers can deal with. It is important for everyone involved or affected by aviation, including professionals, consumers and those on the ground, because the law establishes individual legal responsibilities and defines legal entitlements if anything goes wrong”.

COURSE GOALS

( Identify how aviation law and regulation governs the daily operations of civil aviation ( Explain the process by which air law is created ( Describe how regulatory compliance is demonstrated and enforced ( Describe the regulatory structure and it’s history ( Explain the purpose, role and obligations of an NAA ( Identify the rights of consumers and the protection afforded to them, operators and service providers in legislation ( Identify which laws apply in different locations; for example, the harmonisation of international standards and when laws change ( Reference external sources of information ( Describe who is responsible and/or liable in any given situation where an air incident accident has occurred.

According to the CAA the course is appropriate for anyone working in civil aviation around the world; from NAAs, airlines, aerodromes, maintenance and design organisations.

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WINTER OPERATIONS

WHITE FLIG Four airports in France and Switzerland service the huge inux of Alpine sports enthusiasts during the winter season. This requires close co-operation and attention to detail in ensuring that airports and their connecting road infrastructure are kept running smoothly. Gary Mason reports.

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LIGHT F

rance’s Rhone-Alpes region comprises the largest ski-field in the world encompassing approximately 200 resorts enjoyed by winter sports enthusiasts during the ski season. But some of these resorts are difficult to get to and the importance of having airports that are equipped to deal with high volumes of traffic and provide winter operations cannot be overstated. But it is not just the airport infrastructure that needs to remain operational during peak winter season. As most of the many resorts are accessible only by road it is vital that the onward travel arrangements from the airports in the region are also maintained at maximum efficiency.

For example, Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport is an important regional hub for skiers with 300,000 coming through the airport each year on their way to the many resorts in the northern French Alps - the biggest skiable area in the world.

The airport, which is the third largest in France, has now tailored its passenger offering to cater specifically for skiers including dedicated ground handling staff and other facilities.

Some 20 dedicated staff members are on hand to take care of skiers. Parking spaces right next to the terminals are set aside for skiers and passengers can easily find their travel agency in the new Travel Agency Zone inside the airport.

Instead of having to queue twice (once with bags and once with skis at oversized baggage), passengers can now register both at check-in. A Lyon Airports rep, accompanied by a security guard, will collect their skis or snowboard and take them straight to security. After landing, a rep picks up passengers’ skis and kit and puts them on racks for collection. This means skis and boards are kept safe and baggage collection is significantly improved.

There are several ways to get to the Alps from the airport, all in less than an hour and a half, and all avoiding travelling through cities: by car on the A42-A43 motorway network; by bus on the ALTIBUS and Faure Vercors ski shuttles, which link to nearly 40 stations; by on-demand transfers to 30 stations; or by train on the TGV services to the Alps (one daily return to Saint Jean de Maurienne, and connections to Northern Italy).

Other options are taxis and car rental. In two out of every three cases, getting to ski stations in the Northern French Alps is quicker from Lyon-Saint Exupéry than from any other

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WINTER OPERATIONS

large international airport.

Philippe Bernand, CEO of Lyon Airport told Airport Focus: “ We have the proximity of the Alps which makes us a natural hub for tourism in the region,” he says. “It is very strange because in the minds of many people Geneva is the airport which provides the main access to the Alps because it is very well known around the world. But in fact if you look at the time to go from the airport to the ski resorts it is far more rapid to go through Lyon than to go through Geneva.

On top of that around Geneva there are many traffic jams at the weekend in winter.

We have to play this card and progressively

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to win market share.”

Lyon airport provides easy access to more than 30 ski resorts via a regular shuttle service from December to the beginning of April. A service is also available all year round to resorts in the five alpine valleys.

According to Bernand this is not a simple operation. “You have to operate the onward transport very close to the terminals and even for passengers arriving on the same plane the onward transport requirement is not just one or two buses going to a handful or resorts but 30 buses going to the same number of different ski resorts,” he says.

Of course, there are other airports both

in France and Switzerland that handle the winter season ski traffic, notably Geneva, Grenoble and Chambery. But with its significant increase in low cost carriers, Lyon airport has ambitions to service more of the resorts as a regional hub during the winter months.

The airport also provides a heli-transfer service to some resorts as well as between three and five scheduled coach transfer services every day during the winter season.

According to Stephane Geffroy, Sales and Marketing Director for Aeroports de Lyon, the airport has made a consicious effort to

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retailor its offering during winter to the Alpine sports market. “It starts at arrival with ski equipment arriving at a specific stand next to the luggage belts. Passengers don’t have to go to a different location to collect their skis. All the tour operators working through Lyon can park the buses directly next to the terminals so there are no long walks with bulky equipment.

We like to think we give a full terminal experience to every ski traveller as opposed to other airports.”

The new terminal 1 construction which is almost finished will have 30 dedicated coach spaces directly in front of it which

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head of route development David Thompson describes as a “real game changer.”

In order to fulfill its role as a gateway to the Alps, the airport needs to maintain an efficient capability to stay open for winter operations. The airport has two category 3 runways suitable for low visibility take-offs and landings and during bad weather planes destined for Grenoble and Chambery are regularly re-routed to the airport, according to Bernand. “We are well positioned with significant means to deal with big weather events,’ he says.

It is not unusual for the airport to have 8 cms of snowfall in the winter months

and two years ago the airport experienced one metre of snowfall in just three weeks.

That included 35 cms of snowfall in one afternoon. But the airport was kept open except for a short period when sweepers were operating to clear the runways. For winter operations the airport uses four big sweepers that can clear 80 kms per hour.

This means that the runway can be cleared in about 20 minutes. The airport also has lighting systems that are recessed in the runways so that winter clearing equipment can operate without interference.

According to Geffroy ski resort passengers are reassured to arrive at an airport

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WINTER OPERATIONS

with a good covering of snow because that is what they have paid their money to travel for but is also vital that the winter weather does not disrupt their arrival at the airport or onward travel.

“We have two runways which gives us some operational flexibility. We have also improved our operations in the last two years in terms of our de-icing procedures.

We don’t de-ice on the stands any more but next to the runway which means we are only de-icing aircraft that are ready to go.

We learnt about the benefits of this system from Gatwick.”

But because skiers are accessing the

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Alpine resorts from a number of different airports in the same regional cluster it is very important that they co-operate with one another despite being in direct completion for the same tourist traffic. For example Lyon has a formal arrangement with Geneva, Grenoble and Cambery airport to collaborate whenever there are difficult weather conditions.

“We work together so that if aircraft need to be re-routed we can maintain capacity,” says Geffroy. “On arrival at airports which were not the intended destination this also means being able to handle the passengers and provided onward transport through buses to the resorts. Maybe a couple of

years ago that wouldn’t have happened.”

During the last winter season Lyon says there was only one day where a runway had to be closed for two hours because of snow. “If there is storm there is not much you can do because if it is snowing very hard without interruption, it is impossible to clear a runway completely,” says Bernand.

“You have to wait for it to stop and then clear it but it is honestly very rare that this happens. Since 2007 I think there have been only two days in which the four airports that serve the Alps have been badly affected by extreme weather in terms of their normal operations.”

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SECURITY

OUT OF TIME Airports are stuck in a time warp when it comes to streamlining passenger processes. Gary Mason hears from one airport which is turning to existing technology to come up with a brand new concept.

H

enry Ford, inventor of the motor car, famously said that “if I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” Instead, of course, he decided not to ask advice but come up with a revolutionary concept – based around the internal combustion engine - that nobody had yet thought of.

Do airports need to take the same approach to dramatically improve the passenger experience?

Particularly at a time when checks and security requirements have increased exponentially making it even harder for people to pass through an airport relatively unhindered.

Albert van Veen is CIO for IT with Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. “You do need to put passengers at the heart of what you do but to really improve the passenger experience you do not stop by simply asking passengers what they want,” he says. “You also need to think from your specialism and area of expertise how improvements can be made.”

According to van Veen airports now need to think completely differently about how they develop technology to improve the passenger experience.

“The shift started with the widespread adoption of the internet although that happened a long time ago,” he says. “Before then as an IT professional you just went to the client, asked what they wanted and put that down in a long, wordy document. You then built that requirement in a year or two years and by the time you came back to the client they would say in the time it took to build the system their requirement had changed and they now needed a different system.”

He says the lesson is not always to ask first but

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to build something because it is possible to do it and would make life better.

Airports have traditionally adopted a business to business approach to the use of technology but a more personalised digital offering gives them the chance to do business directly with passengers for the first time – and this offers all kinds of possibilities in terms of making airport security and checking processes much more passenger friendly and seamless.

Of course other service providers such as Google – are way ahead of the game in this respect. If a passenger has Google Now for example and books a flight and a hotel online using that search engine Google knows when he or she is travelling and sends reminders to leave the house on time and can keep them informed about traffic congestion on the way to the airport etc.

According to van Veen airports need to become a lot smarter and willing to share the same sort of update information with their passengers.

“The main question if you have a transfer flight and you on board a delayed connecting flight is - do I need to run?,” he says. “Do I need to get to the front of that plane as quickly as possible and run to get the connection? That is dependent on a lot of different factors - walking time to the connecting gate, queues at security. These are all things that the airport in question will know the answer to but do not automatically share that information with the passenger.”

The increasing introduction of biometrics in the airport business also offers huge potential benefits to the passenger he says. Schiphol recognised the potential of the use of mobile facial recognition and fingerprint systems and set out a goal to Jan/Feb 2017 / AF / 19

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SECURITY

become the best digital airport in the world.

“This makes sense both to provide a seamless passenger journey and the best use of all the assets at the airport,” he says. The Schiphol airport app is one of the widest used apps in the whole of the Netherlands - with more than five million downloads.

But he says that the adoption of an open data philosophy is crucial to the app’s success. “For example if you have detailed maps of the airport which encourage efficient wayfinding you should share them with the airlines. You don’t share all data because of privacy and commercial concerns but you need to think cleverly about how you are going to share it.”

Adults travelling with small children are a good example of where things can be improved dramatically, he says. Passengers may have children who cannot or will not walk unassisted and the adults in the party may have their hands full with luggage and other items. But they still need to find information such as flight details. If they are travelling with small babies they may need to check in and produce a passport or multiple passports and boarding passes.

“The need to show paper certification, watch your children and multi task can be a bit of a nightmare,” he says. “Even when you get rid of your luggage and feel you can relax a little the

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need to constantly produce a boarding pass when entering a secure area or even shopping at duty free can be very annoying. This is good for the airport of course because it provides important passenger information but for the passenger they feel it is not a necessary check because they have already shown their boarding pass or passport at least once in the process.”

Security provides a whole additional raft of tasks including removing shoes, phone and laptops and there are a myriad of international inconsistences. “It is always a little different depending on which airport you are travelling through,” he says. “At Schiphol I can keep my shoes on when going through security but in Milan security staff look at you strangely if you don’t automatically remove your shoes.”

With all those requirements for checks and to manually show documents why are airports not using existing technology that can provide “digital disruption” to those tasks, he says. Because if you can pay with a fingerprint at an airport why can you not use the same technology to go through the security processes?.

“Or even better why can an airport not use facial recognition to check a passenger once and use that process to conduct all further checks at the airport without having to constantly produce passes and documents?,” he asks. “If you ask the passengers what they want they will never mention this but if you look at what is possible with existing technology all this can be done,” he adds For example a passport reader using Near Field Communication technology that works via a passenger’s smart phone has been developed by Google as a free app.

“It reads the chip in your passport,” says van Veen. “Passport chips have photos, fingerprints and all kinds of security information.

If you download that app it is able to see the same information as the border control police do at the airport. This is very interesting because if you have a passport and smart phone and the phone can read the passport you airportfocusinternational.com

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effectively have a digital passport. Similarly if the same passenger could share the information on their boarding pass which is also on their phone, technology can automatically check whether a validated face has a passport and a boarding pass.

It could then send that information to one of the border control ports that many airports already operate.”

Schiphol has tested a proof of concept technology in the laboratory to see how it would work in an airport environment. This is effectively a hands down, walk through, self service boarding pass check for passengers. The system tested in the laboratory uses a commercially available biometric gate or b-gate. The gate communicates with a passenger’s smart phone via a Bluetooth connection but it also uses a facial recognition search engine to verify the passenger. The idea is

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that a passenger would sign up and “home enroll” themselves before travelling so the airport systems would already have their biometric information stored in their system when the passenger arrives on the day of travel.

“What is really remarkable about this prototype is that a lot of specialists worked together to produce the self opening gates,” an airport spokesman said. The prototype remains in an innovation laboratory setting currently but it is hoped it can be tested in real time at the airport in a few months time.

“What we are really aiming for is a paperless airport,” says van Veen, “in which passengers would not require any documents at all. They need simply to turn up at the airport and show their face in order to carry out all the different checks that are required.”

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20/01/2017 16:37:25

SECURITY

STATE

OF THE

ART Matthys Serfontein, Vice President, Airport Solutions with SITA says airports have now reached a tipping point in terms of being able to offer a truly seamless, walk through experience for passengers.

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secure walkthrough experience, from check-in to the aircraft door, has been an ambition of the best airports around the world for some time. But how can airports satisfy passengers’ demands for efficient, seamless journeys while also responding to calls for increased security? Airports, airlines, governments and technology providers are looking to the latest technologies to provide solutions to these conflicting demands.

Whatever the technology, it’s clear a wide range of stakeholders must come together if the industry is to attain the delicate balance between traveller convenience and the need to securely check travellers’ identities. Ultimately, it boils down to creating an efficient way of knowing who is passing through every point in the airport and whether they potentially pose a threat.

After years of steady progress, we have reached a tipping point.

The air transport industry is now on the verge of being able to offer a truly seamless, secure walkthrough experience thanks to the latest application of biometric technology.

Since the introduction of ePassports, biometrics have made it easier to reliably check traveller identities and have reduced the opportunity for identity fraud. The process is simple. Biometric data, such as facial features and fingerprints, is digitally encoded within a chip embedded in the physical ePassport book. This enables real-time biometric checks of the holder which ensure the person carrying the passport is the rightful owner.

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It is now possible to have biometric checks used at every point of the airport journey, ushering in the era of single token travel.

And so SITA launched Smart Path™, which allows passengers to move through the airport and board the aircraft by presenting a single digital token. This is complex technology delivering a remarkably simple solution. It allows a passenger’s biometric details to be captured through a facial scan at the first touch point in their journey. The biometric record is checked against the passenger’s travel documents and a secure single token is created.

Travellers can then use this single digital token as identification at each additional step of the journey – from check-in to the aircraft. Whether it’s during self-bag-drop, at border control or aircraft boarding – passengers simply complete a facial scan to verify who they are; there is no need for them to present a boarding pass, a passport or travel documents again.

This fast, secure and seamless walkthrough experience is already within reach of today’s passengers.

SITA Smart Path has been trialed at a major airport in the Middle East airportfocusinternational.com

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SECURITY

speeding up passenger processing and reducing the resources needed to manage the travel journey. A well-known statistic is that an extra 10 minutes in security reduces the average passenger’s retail spend by 30%. That’s significant, especially when multiplied across thousands of passengers each day.

One of the key benefits of Smart Path is that it integrates with existing airport infrastructure, including industry standard commonuse self-service equipment, such as check-in kiosks, bag drop units, gates for secure access, boarding and automated border control.

This makes rapid deployment easy and cost-effective. Smart Path also integrates with government systems and databases, allowing integrated immigration and border checks.

and more pilot schemes are expected over the coming months.

The early trials have shown how Smart Path simplifies secure, passenger processing for everyone – airlines, airports, border authorities and, of course, passengers. Single token travel also allows several travel steps to be combined into a single interaction, speeding up the time needed to complete certain formalities.

Fast-tracking passengers through the airport check points brings benefits to passengers and airports alike. It improves security oversight and also elevates the passenger’s travel experience, while 24 / AF / Jan/Feb 2017

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EMBRACING MOBILE This is just the start for this technology. Looking to the future, single token travel could become even more convenient for passengers.

The proliferation of mobile technology over the last few years has been closely tied to a surge in the use of digital credentials in day-to-day and online transactions. The use of digital identification is now a well-established phenomenon across many different industries. Precedents are being set and standards are being developed as these industries move towards digital identity checks, often through customers’ mobile devices.

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technologies can complement its existing solutions. SITA’s latest research, for instance, considers how mobile and blockchain technology can be used to facilitate an even better single travel token experience. What if passengers could use a single identity token stored permanently and securely on their mobile phones and simply swipe their device at each step of their journey, at any airport in the world?

While blockchain technology is most famous for being the underlying mechanism for Bitcoin, it could also help revolutionise traveller identity management thanks to its ability to ensure data privacy.

Potentially, this could enable any authority, anywhere in the world to simply scan both a passenger’s face and mobile device to verify their identity and travel status. Crucially, this can all be done without these authorities ever controlling or storing biometric details or personal information, since the entire transaction takes place securely via the blockchain.

The price passengers currently pay for convenience of travel usually means giving up control of personally identifiable information to one or all of airlines, airports and government authorities.

This is because traveller data and identification information must be kept in a central database where agents and authorised users can access it. While access can be limited, privacy can never be absolutely guaranteed: central databases are subject to the possibility of cyber attacks where large numbers of records can be airportfocusinternational.com

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compromised. These concerns, among others, limit the viability of central database solutions that involve sensitive personally identifiable information.

And that’s the beauty of blockchain technology. It ensures passenger data is secure, encrypted, tamper-proof and unusable for any other purpose. At the same time, it eliminates the need for a single authority to own, process or store the data. The crypto-led computer science provides a network of trust, where the source and history of the data is verifiable by everyone.

SITA has recently worked with blockchain start-up ShoCard to determine the feasibility of trialling these concepts. A single travel token or identity on a traveller’s mobile device is used to ease their journey through different airports and airlines. It is still early days for these initial tests, and issues of scalability and adoption rates need to be examined. But SITA is looking at how the air transport industry can take advantage of the new era where underlying blockchain protocols provide trust so that individuals or authorities don’t have to.

The future of travel identity management looks bright. Single token travel will make it more efficient, more secure, and more convenient for passengers and those managing checkpoints across the airport.

A full walkthrough airport experience is possible today, but it’s only the beginning for single token travel. Watch this space.

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20/01/2017 16:37:33

SUSTAINABILITY

GREEN HORIZON

Enforceable international agreements to reduce emissions and the widespread use of bio-fuels are two of the major objectives of greater sustainability in commercial air travel. Gary Mason reports from the Airports Going Green Conference held at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam at the end of last year to hear what progress has been made.

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ustainability is now a key topic for airports and the commercial aviation industry but what is the reality behind the rhetoric? As passenger numbers continue to grow and emerging newer markets in Asia strengthen their industry dominance, can an industry which is dependent on an abundance of fossil fuel make genuine strides to reduce its CO2 emissions?

Haldane Dodd, is Head of Communications at the Air Transport Action Group.

He says in the last 12 months there has been a rush of global and regional climate and sustainability initiatives and agreements that relate directly to aviation. Although the December 2015 climate accord in Paris does not cover CO2 emissions from global aviation, it did include domestic flights and specifically,

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emissions from airports.

In February last year, governments and industry leaders meeting at ICAO also agreed to the world’s first CO2 standards for new aircraft. This means that from 2020 it will be a legal requirement - in the same way that safety and on-board systems for new aircraft are tested – for new planes to be rigorously tested to that CO2 standard. From 2027 all aircraft in production that do not meet those standards will have to cease production.

This measure alone will be estimated to save more than 650 million tones of CO2 emissions from 2020-2040. Dodd points out the aviation standard will be more rigorous than that for the motor industry for example which is largely dependent on “amateur” operators ie ordinary motorists. “Aircraft are purchased by airlines which invest years in investigating the most fuel efficient model for their needs,” he says. “They are then flown by extremely qualified pilots and guided through the skies by other experts in air traffic control.”

The CO2 standard is not meant to be the final word on technology efficiency but it builds on years of work undertaken in the manufacturing sector and it is a measure that will push manufacturers tighter as it is implemented over time, he adds.

Of course, the sustainability calculations relating to aviation must include the enormous economic benefits to the global economy. Nearly 63 million jobs are supported by the air transport industry across the world. It also generates $2.7 trillion in global economic activity - which is one third of total global trade by value. The hubs of the global air transport sector are shifting economically towards the

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fast developing Asia Pacific and African regions. As economies and the middle class develop in these regions, people want the same access to economic and business opportunities, specifically relating to trade and tourism, that Europe and North America have enjoyed for decades.

In fact the Asia Pacific region is now the world’s largest aviation market having overtaken North America two years ago. On the back of this new growth, in the next 20 years it has been forecast that more than 100 million jobs worldwide will be supported by aviation.

In October last year ICAO also reached a significant agreement on aviation sustainability and climate change in Montreal. Four main goals were set out and were achievable through a mix of new technology and alternative fuels. But it also includes improved operational performance, better use of existing infrastructure and in order to close the emissions gap, a global market mechanism.

The market based measure is in some ways the most interesting initiative, according to Dodd. “It is fairly odd for any industry to actively promote an idea like this,” he says. “Because this measure will actually cost us more. But we even managed to get a number of CEOs to sign up to the cause. It is important because it will allow our industry to continue to grow and provide all the benefits to developing economies. But it also allows us to avoid a complicated and overlapping patchwork of different measures that would not be environmentally sound and would stifle that growth.”

The Carbon Offsetting Reduction Scheme for International Aviation or CORSIA as it is known is not exactly the agreement that the industry would design itself says Dodd but when you are seeking internationally binding agreements, compromise is needed to get as many countries on board as possible. There were a small number of objecting countries who didn’t sign up to the CORSIA deal but the world’s first global mechanism for dealing with emissions growth from any sector will start operating after 2020. airportfocusinternational.com

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“It is a complex beast,” says Dodd. “But in simple terms it means that around 80 per cent of the growth in international aviation CO2 will be offset from 2020.” Some 66 countries have signed up to the agreement and it is hoped that more will follow. While there is a voluntary element to the scheme at the beginning of its life span, from 2027 it becomes mandatory aside from a small number of exempt states.

“There has been a lot of interest on the projected costs of CORSIA and we have run a few numbers,” says Dodd. “Airlines of course will usually be allergic to any extra costs imposed on them but compared to the cost of fuel it is minimal and will earn our license to grow well into the future. If you are an airline you need to start preparing now for this. Airports don’t really need to do anything specific but as it is so important to our sector it will undoubtedly have an impact on them as well.”

Of course the biggest and most difficult hurdle the commercial aviation sector will always have to clear in order improve its sustainability credentials is to significantly reduce its almost complete reliance on fossil based fuel. Progress on this has been extremely slow but there have been a number of small milestones in the past 18 months.

In January 2016 Oslo Airport became the first airport in the world to use alternative sustainable fuels for some its flights. In March, United Airlines flights from Los Angeles Airport followed suit.

Olav Larsen, is senior advisor strategy and development, for Avinor, which provides air navigation services for the whole of Norway and also operates 46 airports in the country. Because Norway’s population of just five million people are spread out in quite remote locations, the country is heavily reliant on it airport network. “We often joke that when God created Norway he factored in aviation,” says Larsen. “As the main airport operator we feel this responsibility every day.”

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SUSTAINABILITY

operator would become so heavily involved in bio-fuels for aircraft but the answer to that question is quite a simple one. “We saw a decade ago that traffic growth was outpacing emission reductions for the aviation industry as a whole. This did not apply to the airports who were actually reducing their emissions but they were getting hammered for the overall growth in emissions as well.”

This was a huge challenge for Avinor who were attempting to develop its airport network . The elephant in the room was aviation fuel and according to Larsen facing up to this challenge head on was both ethically sound and good for business.

Avinor first started to look into bio-fuels 10 years ago. It decided to invest 100 million Norwegian Krone in R&D in this area. The ultimate aim was to be able to produce bio-fuels which could be used in aviation from forestry residues in Norway.

“Over this time there has been a lot of very fruitful collaboration with academia, potential bio-fuel producers, fuel suppliers, airlines and other stakeholders,” he says.

When the company started the bio-fuels project at Oslo Airport it collaborated closely with Air BP. “They actually came to us and said 28 / AF / Jan/Feb 2017

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they were looking into dropping biofuels into a hybrid system at an airport.,” Larsen says. “It took my CEO exactly two seconds to say yes because we were looking for this opportunity.”

The first stage of the project was establishing that it could be done and there were a number of administrative hurdles that needed to be overcome. The airportfocusinternational.com

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SUSTAINABILITY AT SCHIPHOL

Schiphol Group has joined forces with home carrier KLM, biofuel supplier SkyNRG and several other partners to promote the large-scale use of biofuels in aviation. Schiphol Group and KLM are taking part in a number of university studies and pilot projects to explore options for developing the biofuels market. KLM itself is one of the world’s leading pioneers in biofuels use. Schiphol has extended its membership of KLM’s Corporate BioFuel programme through to 2018.

It is Schiphol Group’s goal to achieve CO2 neutrality for its own operations every year. The airport says it reduces emissions by using sustainable energy and fuels to the fullest extent possible. In 2015 it managed to achieve this ambition, partly by compensating emissions with certificates for Dutch, Belgian and Central-European wind energy and Belgian solar energy projects.

In 2015 the airport retained its 3+ status in Airport Council International’s Airport Carbon Accreditation system. This is the highest status that can be attained and was awarded on the basis of the airport’s investments in biofuels, electrically powered vehicles, use of LED lighting and restriction of commuter traffic.

ELECTRIC BUSES Amsterdam Airport Schiphol wants to become the most sustainable airport in the world. To achieve this, it invested heavily in reducing emissions. Two examples are the use of 167 electric Schiphol Taxis (Tesla) and 35 fully electric buses for the passengers on airside. There will come electric buses on landside as well. This means that the buses, which will bring passengers, visitors and staff to the airport, will be electric by the end of 2017.

LIGHT AS A SERVICE One way to be sustainable is having a circular economy. The airport’s goal is to be zero waste by 2030. “We believe in working together with partners that have ground-breaking plans to put traditional ways of doing business in a different perspective. Plans that have an impact on sustainability are especially very interesting for us. So we try to work together with others who have the same mind set,” a spokesman for the airport says.

“Philips Lighting came up with a whole new idea for the need of light. So we worked together on the implementation of Light as a Service at Schiphol. Light as a Service means that Schiphol pays for the light it uses while Philips Lighting remains the owner of all 3700 ¬xtures and installations. Philips Lighting and Cofely will be jointly responsible for the performance and durability of the system and ultimately its re-use and recycling at end-of-life. By using energy-efficient LED lamps, a 50% reduction in electricity consumption will be achieved over conventional lighting systems.

“Because we don’t buy lamps and fixtures, but we buy light. this whole new way of thinking is, thanks to Philips, is now a part of our airport. The whole new look is great due to the shortage of raw materials, the new business model and the benefits we endure from it. In this way we keep Schiphol future proof, and we become more sustainable as an airport location.”

aviation industry is very conservative and there were also some communication issues, not just concerning the overall concept of sustainability but the principle of mass balance – dropping in biofuels into an airport’s refueling infrastructure so that all airlines “get some biofuels into their wings.”

He says in this project only a few of the airlines were paying the premium cost for use of the bio-fuels. The first batch of bio-fuel was delivered to Oslo in January 2016 – about one year behind schedule. “It took a lot of time to get that batch sorted,” says Larsen. “Thousands of test bio-fuel flights have been carried out but we think this is really a big step up in the process. It is a very important piece in the jigsaw puzzle. If you can drop these fuels into an airport’s fuel farm it reduces costs significantly.”

One of the reasons for this is that the very steep domestic C02 emissions tax on normal fuels in Norway is waived for bio fuels. But the process of getting that first batch produced was complicated.

It was produced from Spanish tonalin oil, refined in Finland and then airportfocusinternational.com

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shipped to Sweden and transported to Oslo by lorries. The second batch is currently being transported from AltAir in California. At the time of the conference the batch was somewhere in the Panama Canal, Larsen said.

This was the first time that bio-fuel has been imported into Europe - there are complicated legal and trade hurdles that need to be cleared but Avinor is hoping that these will ease over time.

As far as the fuel itself is concerned it works very well and there are no technical issues, according to Larsen. “We have sorted our all the administrative issues thus far and we have no issues with passengers or airlines.”

The ultimate goal for the project for Avinor Is that within 15 years 30 per cent of all aviation fuel used in Norway should be from biofuels. That is approximately 400 million litres depending upon air traffic projections.

The short term aim is to continue to supply Oslo Airport with bio-fuel and possibly extend that supply to other airports in Norway.

“We will also be pushing hard for jet bio-fuel in the political arena,” says Larsen. “There are a lot of instruments that need to be in place to make this profitable and sustainable.

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Q&A

AIRPORT PARKING

Q&A Airport Focus talks to Julian Sperring-Toy, Managing Director, ADVAM UK about the need for convenience, value and loyalty in the airport parking sector

Julian joined the ADVAM team in mid-2016. Julian was appointed to champion the UK and European region within the international organisation, driving innovation, efficiencies and to create a foundation for sustainable growth.

“In the 6 months or so that I have been with the organisation, we have already been able to achieve a lot. The main focus has been to establish the building blocks to continue to grow the business, in a sustainable way. We have been working hard to review our internal operational processes, with a focus on improving the service that we offer our new and existing customers. Of course, while we build the foundations, we can’t sit still. We have also grown the organisation through new clients, new partnerships and expanded the scope of solutions with existing clients such as Dublin Airport Authority, Swedavia and NCP to name a few”.

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Before we start, please just introduce ADVAM and its involvement within the Airport Parking Sector.

ADVAM is a leading provider of payments solutions, with special expertise in parking payments and innovation for not only Airports, but with Parking Operators, Local Government and Shopping Centres. As an international business with offices in Australia and the UK, we provide payment solutions for some of the leading airports and operators including, but not limited to, NCP managed airports, Sydney, Auckland, Dublin Airport Authority, Swedavia, Copenhagen and Munich.

Our full suite of solutions including Unattended Payments, fully featured Reservation platform, ticketless account based solution, Staff parking and Ground Transport management enables our clients to maximise revenue, improve the customer experience, engage with their customers and create loyalty.

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What do you see as the key drivers for innovation in the airport parking sector? Do you feel that innovation and technology are used to their optimum at the moment?

Innovation is used in different ways, at different levels across the airport parking sector. Some organisations are just starting to use a form of automation, whereas others are more advanced and delving into how they can use the data from these solutions, to understand their customers and drive loyalty.

For example, some of the airport clients we work with started with our AltitudeReservation platform. For some this is a simple booking engine, enabling customers to pre-book parking at the airport. For other clients, the solution is used to not only book parking, but other airport services such as security fast track, valet, or car wash services. For the more advanced users, it’s how they are using the customer data that makes the difference. For these clients, the AltitudeReservation platform is used to understand their customers, build profiles, create new products and develop pricing strategies to enhance the customer experience even further. The platform is used to engage with the customer along their booking journey and beyond. In some cases it can be linked to loyalty programs, third party channels such as airlines and travel agents, or simply offer a discount next time they make a booking.

In addition to the management of parking for customers or staff, we also work with Airports to help better manage their Ground

Airport parking solutions from ADVAM

Transport, providing a ticketless solution to better manage buses, limos and taxi traffic across the airport. The new dynamic to this, is of course, Uber. Some airports we work with are embracing this and building it into their GroundTransport plans, others are trying to prevent Uber drivers from doing business at the airport, whereas the third group are refusing to accept Uber as a separate transport segment and don’t treat them any differently to private cars.

Technology and innovation is being used by all of our clients to enable their business to run more efficiently, but yes, there is definitely room for improvement and it’s not at its optimum level, or capacity yet – but some airports are definitely making plans to achieve this.

What are airports/passengers telling you about what they want from their parking experience?

Consumers (as anywhere, not just airports) are looking for convenience, good value and to be rewarded for loyalty. Ultimately parking is not the main destination of their journey (whether this is travelling overseas or picking up loved ones), so the easier it is and the higher perceived value, the better.

Whether it’s pre-booking their parking space, paying when they pick up passengers or being able to catch a taxi easily, consumers want the airport experience to be an effortless part of their overall journey.

ParkCharge UnattendedPayments

Working with the leading airports to transform the airport parking payment experience – incentivise spending, boost loyalty and maximise revenue.

StaffPark GroundTransport AltitudeReservation

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Q&A

To accommodate this and to combat increased competition from off-airport parking operators, airports need to look at how they can improve the holistic experience and it’s beyond just competing on price. Without going into too much detail on each aspect, Airports can; ( Make a difference to those picking up loved ones or staying in the short term car park by providing the convenience of paying by card (or mobile device), rather than cash ( Provide regular customers with a way to pay via an account/ ewallet. This can be linked to their loyalty program and perhaps one account could be shared with a household so that it doesn’t matter who, or which car is parking at the airport ( Allow customers to pre-book their parking. This can be integrated with a third party such as a travel agent or airline, or direct on the airports website. Airports should look at additional services that can be offered through the booking journey, adding extra value and convenience to the customer as well as helping the airport to build a greater profile and level to engage with the customer ( Reward regular customers for loyalty, whether its linking with third party programs such as EON to get Tesco Clubcard points in the UK, or to claim Velocity Award points in Australia, or simply by offering a discount for another service at the airport or for their next trip.

You are an international company. Are all airport parking markets the same or do they vary from country to country? If so, how?

Airport parking markets do have some similarities across the globe, but there are also differences in terms of how technology, such as those solutions I have outlined, are adopted in different countries. However, there can also be differences within the same geographic market, depending on the airport, its structure, long term plans, passenger traffic and overall size.

ADVAM works with many different airports of various scale across the globe. They are all at different stages of their innovation journey. As mentioned earlier, some might have a simple reservation platform, others are using this platform to really understand their customer profiles, and others are yet to begin the journey to implement a reservation platform.

Differences don’t necessarily mean that one market (or airport) is more advanced than another, but just that each uses technology in a different way or works in line with different business models. For example, the use of third party integrators is a lot more prevalent in the UK market, working with travel companies to offer parking services. This market dynamic isn’t really seen in the Australian market. However, clients in Australia may be more advanced in owning and understanding their customers.

Regardless of geographical or cultural differences, there are some common themes – managing occupancy, pricing

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management, improving the customer experience and the value of each customer.

Passenger numbers are expected to continue to rise significantly in the next 20 years. This will put a strain on an airports infrastructure. How does the parking piece of this jigsaw cope with future demand and will it require a different business model?

Parking and transport management is key to an airport being able to manage long term growth. As the number of passengers increase, so does the number of cars and buses to transport these passengers to, around and from the airport. As mentioned already, it’s often the first and last part of a customers’ journey, so the experience needs to be a positive one.

A lot of our clients have seen significant growth in the last five years and the majority, if not all have long term strategic plans on how the airport infrastructure will handle continual growth with a 20 year vision. Many of these plans include both physical growth through the development of new runways, terminals and car parks as well as the use of technology to better understand passengers, travel patterns and to improve the flow of traffic around the airport.

We work with clients to understand the physical infrastructure changes and any new parking requirements, but we definitely work very closely with them on how the adoption of technology can support this growth.

I have already talked about some of the automated solutions where we assist clients with managing growth, but one area to focus on is how those solutions can be used to not only streamline the flow of traffic around the airport, but build a profile of what that growth will look like, what areas the airport needs to focus on and what the timescales are likely to be like.

By understanding the data linked to the parking and ground transport environment, for staff as well as customers, airports have a basis to intelligently forecast for the future and build plans accordingly.

A simple data touch point such as knowing who is parking, when, duration and frequency allows for improved forecasting. Not just for managing relatively short term price and product changes, but to assist with future planning for both physical expansion and to evaluate alternative models/methods of doing things.

In addition, by understanding how changes outside of parking (i.e. an introduction of a new airline, or new terminal) will change the dynamics of who parks, when, duration and frequency can help to plan for future growth. As an example, one of our clients had an airline introduce a new route, which in turn increased passenger numbers by the thousands. The airport expected general traffic and parking to increase as a percentage of the increase in passenger numbers. In reality, parking didn’t increase as much as expected, but Taxi traffic increased by a higher percentage rate. Insights into this kind of behaviour enables an airport to plan for changes in parking

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requirements, ground transport and ancillary services.

Finally, the use of automation to create ‘zones’ has enabled many of our clients to handle growth and maintain a constant flow of traffic. For example with the combination of the AltitudeReservation platform, ParkCharge, StaffPark and GroundTransport clients can automate the flow of traffic to key areas, enabling key customers to easily enter premium parking, staff parkers and ground transport to not flow independently to general drive up traffic.

think about paying for this parking, incentivises them to pick up a friend and gives them a positive experience of the airport.

These things are possible now, but many work in isolation. I see that the future will connect the solutions to the individual consumer, enhancing their experience and the airports understanding of their customers even more. The experience will be personal to that customer, based on their profile that is developed each time they visit the airport.

How is technology changing the airport parking market?

What future developments are likely to impact on the sector e.g driverless vehicles/robotics/automation?

Like everywhere, technology is changing how we buy goods and services and how we interact with each other. Parking is not unique in this, but needs to keep up with customer expectations and to provide a seamless experience in order to increase the value of and retain customers.

Driverless vehicles, robotics and automation are already in our airports. London Heathrow uses a version of driverless vehicles to transport passengers to the terminal. Dubai airport also uses driverless vehicles (although in a different guise) to transport passengers between terminals. Robotics aren’t used so much in airport parking at the moment, but definitely in the wider parking sector where multi-tiered parking bays are stacked and essentially use robots to ‘store’ the car.

The biggest impact as whole will be automation, in whatever way is relevant for the airport and their customers. The focus will be on convenience for the customer.

In the not so distant future it will possible for an individual customer to prebook their parking at the same time as booking their flight. As they’re a regular customer and it’s linked to their loyalty program, they automatically earn points. They don’t need to enter their personal details as they are already stored within the system. As they have used their loyalty card before to upgrade to Valet parking, the reservation platform sends them a message (via their preferred method) two weeks before their departure date, inviting them to take advantage of a special offer on valet parking.

This whole process will be automated, based on the profile of the customer.

Once they arrive at the airport, they are recognised through RFID on their car, or simply the presence of their smart phone, resting in the console. As they proceed through the airport, they can collect more reward points with additional purchases (maybe even a free cup of coffee) and the airport knows how they could reward them in the future.

Next time the same person is just picking up a friend from the airport, so only parks in the ‘passenger pick up’ car park. They tap their phone (or watch) on the payment terminal, payment is automatically deducted from their online account and if eligible, more reward points are added. This makes it easier for them to not

What is your definition of a really great airport parking experience? And how easy is it for an airport to change its parking offering to provide this great experience A really great parking experience is going to be different for every consumer. For some it will be Valet parking as close as possible to the terminal, for others it will be finding a great deal for the duration of the holiday. For me, it is what I have outlined in the previous question. Making it as easy as possible for a customer to park, travel and pay for parking – all while receiving some kind of loyalty bonus.

Regardless of the type of ‘experience’ there are common factors. ( Convenience in finding the right parking product and being able to pay for it easily. This can be through an ewallet or simply paying by card instead of cash ( Availability/access to the parking, including the ability to reserve parking, have a ticketless/cashless solution or through easy access for premium parking ( Encompass all services and not just parking to improve the overall journey. This includes the ability to add additional services such as security fast track, or linking to a relevant loyalty program ( Security. This is paramount across the airport experience, but I don’t just mean physical security of the car, but security of the payment processing. Whether it’s by card, mobile or online.

airportfocusinternational.com

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Airport readiness is based on a number of factors, however our experience in working with airports of different sizes and readiness across the globe is to implement any change in incremental steps.

It is too much for an airport to implement all solutions at once, or even if they are just introducing one solution such as a reservation platform it makes sense to do this incrementally.

Start with a reservation platform that enables the airport to accept bookings for parking and additional services. Once established, the airport can then look at integrating with loyalty programs and revenue management solutions such as those offered by one of our partners, IDeaS. It is best for an airport to work closely with their service provider, using their expertise of how other airports have implemented such solutions, what will have the largest impact for the airport and what complements existing services in order to define the best strategy and implementation plan for them.

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20/01/2017 16:37:40

INSIDER

PLEASE DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME I

n 2016, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers discovered 3,391 firearms in carryon bags at checkpoints across the US, averaging nine firearms per day, approximately a 28 percent increase in firearm discoveries from the total of 2,653 in 2015. Astonishingly, eighty-three per cent of the guns caught in 2016 were loaded.

Greater Rochester International Airport saw the most improvement as no travelers brought firearms to the airport’s checkpoint in 2016 compared to five that were brought to the checkpoint in 2015. Go Greater Rochester!

On the other hand, Buffalo-Niagara International Airport saw an increase in the number of guns brought to the airport’s checkpoint, when six guns were detected in 2016 compared to just two in 2015. Good people of Buffalo – what were you thinking?

The top five airports where TSA officers detected guns at checkpoints in 2016 were: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International with 198; Dallas/Fort Worth International with 192; George Bush Intercontinental at Houston with 128; Phoenix Sky Harbor International with 101; and Denver International with 98. These same airports were in the top five for guns at checkpoints in 2014 and 2015.

The Upstate New York region saw 10 firearms detected by TSA officers at checkpoints in 2015 and again in 2016.

What are the human stories behind these statistics? Well, a man was caught with a gun at Washington Dulles International Airport on Sunday, January 15 after TSA officers caught him trying to carry a handgun past a security checkpoint. The .45 caliber handgun was not loaded, however the carry-on bag also contained a magazine with five bullets along with five additional bullets that were loose in

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the same bag.

He has my sympathy. I often leave a machine pistol in my toilet bag by mistake and have to call a relative to collect it from me at the airport before flying.

Despite these rash of weapon detections, Insider finds it extraordinary that under TSA regulations, firearms, firearm parts and ammunition can be legally transported in checked bags if they are unloaded, properly packed and declared to the airline. The unloaded firearms need to be stored in a locked hard-sided container as checked baggage only. Passengers also need to declare the firearm and/or ammunition to the airline when checking their bag at the ticket counter.

“Locked cases that can be easily opened are not permitted,” the TSA guidelines state. Well that’s a relief.

It also stresses airlines may have additional requirements for traveling with firearms and ammunition and passengers should contact them before travelling about these policies.

It also true that firearm possession laws vary by state and locality in the US. TSA advises travellers to “familiarize themselves with state and local firearm laws for each point of travel prior to departure to ensure that they have the proper gun permits for the states that they are traveling to and from.”

This does sound a bit complicated. Indeed, it sounds like a recipe for confusion, on board disputes and a bad passenger experience all round. Insider, however, has a simple solution to all this. When flying folks, just leave your guns at home in a locked cupboard. Preferably out of the reach of small children or unstable adults on strong medication. Thank you and a Happy New Year. airportfocusinternational.com

20/01/2017 16:37:41

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20/01/2017 16:37:41

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20/01/2017 16:37:45