INDUSTRY NEWS

We provide a snapshot of some of the latest news stories from across Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.

Hyderabad And Queen Alia Celebrate Birthday Milestones

Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport and Amman’s Queen Alia International Airport recently celebrated milestone events, the Indian gateway turning 15 years old and the Jordanian gateway toasting the 10th anniversary of its Terminal Building.

Hyderabad (pictured above) was India’s first greenfield airport to open under the Public-Private Partnership in 2008 and was recently adjudged Best Airport by Size in Asia-Pacific in the 15-25mppa category in ACI’s Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards for 2022.

Operator, GMR Hyderabad International Airport (GHIAL) simply described the anniversary as “Fifteen years of connecting the world with excellence and innovation”.

Talking about the 10th anniversary of Queen Alia’s Terminal Building, Airport International Group’s CEO, Nicolas Claude, stated that the $750 million investment had proved pivotal to the gateway’s traffic growth and ASQ success over the past decade.

“Through a successful PPP, we, alongside our grantor, employees and partners, have worked tirelessly to create an airport experience that reflects the best of our community and showcases our commitment to hospitality,” said Claude.

“As we look ahead, we remain dedicated to enhancing our airport’s offerings and ensuring that every passenger travelling through Jordan’s prime gateway to the world feels welcomed and at home.”

Adani Group Could Expand Indian Airport Portfolio

The future ambitions of Adani Airports include the possible expansion of its Indian airport network and eventually becoming the leading airport operator in the country.

In the last round of airport privatisations in India, Adani Airports won bids to operate six airports – Guwahati, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Thiruvananthapuram and Mangaluru.

Going forward, the Indian government has identified a total of 25 airports for potential privatisation with about a dozen of them expected to happen in the next few years. Arun Bansal, CEO of Adani Airport Holdings, says the group will participate in the bidding.

Speaking on the on sidelines of an aviation summit hosted by CAPA India in New Delhi in mid-March 2023, Bansal said: “We need to see the conditions of the request for quotation (RFQ), we need to see how the tariff will be applied and we will need to see how the CAPEX will be applied. And only if it makes financial sense, will we put in a bid.”

In the next round of airport privatisation the Indian government is expected to pair smaller airports with larger, more profitable ones, believing the strategy to be the best way to develop the country’s secondary regional gateways.

According to Adani, annual traffic numbers across India could rise to nearly one billion passengers per annum by 2040, with passenger traffic growing at a CAGR of 8.5% over the next 20 years.

“The growth will not only be at the airports in Delhi or Mumbai or Kolkata or Bengaluru, but it will also be at regional airports,” said Bansal, noting that expansion of the company’s airport network could conceivably see it handling 350 million passengers annually in the next ten years.

New Bne Caf Brewing Up Employment For People With A Disability

Brisbane Airport is literally brewing up employment opportunities for people with a disability at its new Boronia Brew café.

Indeed, to date, 10 staff with a disability have found employment at Boronia Brew, which officially opened earlier this year.

Operated by HELP Enterprises, the social enterprise is providing training for supported workers, with hopes some will go on to find employment at businesses across the rapidly expanding Brisbane Airport precinct.

The coffee shop is one of Brisbane Airport’s largest, located in the Da Vinci aviation training precinct filled with people upgrading their skills at Aviation Australia, Qantas, Virgin Australia, LifeFlight Training Academy, QUT and Cabin Services Australia.

Brisbane Airport Corporation invited HELP to fill a hospitality void in the southern airport precinct.

“We were really looking for an operator with heart to bring great coffee and great food to our training precinct to build our airport community, and we are incredibly happy to work with HELP to provide opportunities for supported workers,” enthused Gert-Jan de Graaff, CEO of Brisbane Airport Corporation.

Every day 24,000 people come to work across the Brisbane Airport precinct, with that number expected to grow by 10,000 by the time the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games begin.

“If this café can help train some of the future employees who go on to work in hospitality across Brisbane Airport, we will be delighted,” adds de Graaff.

AUCKLAND AIRPORT’S BIGGEST EVER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

Auckland Airport is to commence the biggest development programme since it opened in 1966 with a brand-new domestic terminal, which will be fully integrated into the international terminal.

The NZ$2.2 billion terminal integration programme –a significant part of the airport’s wider 10-year-capital programme – will bring domestic travel and international travel together under the same roof for the first time since 1977, via an expansion at the eastern end of the existing international terminal building.

The integration programme is also an important enabler in allowing the New Zealand gateway to carry out key upgrades on the airfield to ensure the airport remains resilient.

Chief executive, Carrie Hurihanganui, enthused: “This is all about building the gateway Auckland and New Zealand need.

“A new domestic terminal integrated into the international terminal will make Auckland Airport fit for the future, providing a much-improved experience for travellers – something they’ve clearly and repeatedly told us they want.

“They’re asking for a domestic facility that offers modern spaces, efficient passenger processing areas, improved bathroom facilities and faster baggage systems, as well as better connections between domestic and international travel and via public transport and the city. In short, renovations just won’t cut it anymore.”

Set to open between 2028 and 2029, the combined terminal will serve the larger and more efficient domestic jet aircraft flying to and from Auckland to New Zealand’s other main centres, alongside international operations.

Provisional Opening Date Set For Delhi Noida

Upon inspecting the construction site, the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh’s chief secretary, Durga Shankar Mishra, has announced that he expects Delhi’s much anticipated Noida International Airport to open in September 2024.

Being developed in phases, the airport is set to have an initial capacity of 12 million passengers per annum upon opening, rising to 30mppa by 2030 and eventually up to 70 million by 2040.

It will also arguably be one of India’s greenest airports when it opens as it is being designed as a ‘net-zero emissions airport’.

Changi Enhances Strategic Cargo Partnership With Brussels Airport

Singapore Changi and Brussels Airport have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to augment their strategic partnership in air cargo development.

With the goal of deepening cargo competencies, it is said that both airports will jointly drive initiatives to enhance their respective capabilities in pharmaceutical logistics, undertake studies and trials in the fields of digitalisation and sustainability, and exchange best practices.

The MoU was signed by Geert Aerts, chief cargo and real estate officer of Brussels Airport Company (BAC), and Lim Ching Kiat, executive vice president for air hub and cargo development at Changi Airport Group (CAG).

Lim noted: “The industry has witnessed how the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the air cargo supply chain. More than ever, handling capabilities are key to the competitiveness of the air cargo ecosystem.

“As CAG pushes forward with our digitalisation efforts to enhance Changi Airport’s air cargo processes for higher handling efficiency, we look forward to exchanging insights and learning from Brussels Airport and Air Cargo Belgium.”

XINJIANG’S FIRST HIIGH PLATEAU OPENS IN CHINA

Xinjiang in north west China has a new high altitude airport following the opening of Tashikuergan Hongqilafu Airport late last year.

Located 10,690ft above sea level in Tashikuergan County, the $200 million plus new addition to China’s aviation infrastructure is Xinjiang’s first high plateau airport and 25th civilian gateway.

It will be served by China Southern Airlines operating A319 flights to Urumqi – the capital city of Xinjiang, which previously took over a day to get to by road –from where passengers can catch onward connections to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing and other major Chinese cities.

Tashikuergan Hongqilafu Airport, is equipped to handle up to 160,000 passengers, nearly 2,000 aircraft movements and 400 tonnes of freight per annum.

Tashikuergan County is close to the borders of Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan, making the airport the most western in China in terms of its location.

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