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Planning & Design: Looking to the future In the spotlight: Planning & Design Airport report: Honolulu
Issue 3, 2018 www.aci-apa.com
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ASIA-PACIFIC AIRPORTS MAGAZINE
CONTENTS
Asia-Pacific Airports Issue 3, 2018
6 View from the top
14 Green Hawaii
Regional director, Patti Chau, reflects on the importance of supportive regulation for aviation and one of the busiest ever years for ACI Asia-Pacific and industry events.
Ross Higashi, head of Hawaii’s airports division, talks to Joe Bates about traffic growth, infrastructure development and sustainability initiatives at Honolulu’s Daniel K Inouye International Airport.
8 News
20 Building for the future
A snapshot of some of the biggest news stories of the last few months.
10 ACI news Vivian Fung reports on the latest developments from across the busy Asia-Pacific region.
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With a new runway, terminal, SKYCITY and other airport city projects being developed on the airport site, these are busy and exciting times for Hong Kong International Airport, writes Joe Bates. www.aci-apa.com
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CONTENTS 26 Age concern
36 Design and build
Joe Bates takes a closer look at some of the many development projects going on across the region.
With people living longer than ever before, catering to an aging population is now an essential part of the airport design process, writes Corgan’s Jonathan Massey.
30 The shape of things to come
Vietnam’s planned new Long Thanh International Airport promises to be one of the most modern, innovative and exciting gateways in Asia-Pacific, writes Heerim’s Byungkoo Lee.
Asia-Pacific Airports (APA) www.aci-apa.com Editor Joe Bates joe@aci-apa.com +44 (0)1276 476582 Design, Layout & Production Mark Draper mark@aci-apa.com +44 (0)208 707 2743
APA Issue 3, 2018
Published by Aviation Media Ltd PO BOX 448, Feltham, TW13 9EA, UK Managing Director Jonathan Lee jonathan@aci-apa.com +44 (0)208 707 2743 Advertising Manager Jonathan Lee jonathan@aci-apa.com +44 (0)208 707 2743
40 Industry news News, views and reviews from ACI’s regional and global World Business Partners.
Subscriptions subscriptions@ aviationmedia.aero +44 (0)208 707 2743
Printed in the UK by Magazine Printing Co
Asia-Pacific Airports (APA) is published four times a year for the members of ACI Asia-Pacific. The opinions and views expressed in APA are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect an ACI policy or position. The content of this publication is copyright of Aviation Media Ltd and should not be copied or stored without the express permission of the publisher.
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VIEW FROM THE TOP Regional director, Patti Chau, reflects on the importance of supportive regulation for aviation and one of the busiest ever years for ACI Asia-Pacific and industry events.
I
t was a very busy summer for our office as we continued to advocate on behalf of the airport community and strengthened our presence by speaking and participating at a number of key air transport industry events. The world’s airports face different challenges and opportunities, of course, but one thing they all have in common is the need for clear, consistent and supportive regulation to support their development and growth, and the overall success of the aviation industry. This was certainly top of mind at the recent International Aviation Summit in Delhi, India, where ACI addressed aviation leaders from around the world and called for immediate action to assist nations and communities to meet the challenges of the rapid growth in demand for air services.
CHALLENGES OF GROWTH
According to ACI’s most recent forecasts, India will become the third largest aviation market for passengers by 2021 when it is expected to be handling in excess of 429 million passengers per year. And the upturn in traffic is not just confined to passengers as forecasts predict that India will be handling around 4.4 million metric tonnes of APA Issue 3, 2018
cargo annually by then, making it aviation’s seventh biggest cargo market on the planet. For airports to continue delivering the social and economic benefits that aviation generates, ACI urged policymakers and regulators at the International Aviation Summit in India to provide a proportionate, clear and consistent regulatory framework to facilitate successful private investment. Any national transport policy should have a long-term vision setting clear and firm objectives to achieve the modernisation of airports. India itself has proven that partnerships between the public and private sectors is a valid option to increase the quality of service for passengers. A clear and consistent legal framework should set the ground for further airport privatisation processes, including incentives to attract potential national and foreign investors. This is consistent with the direction of the recent Nabh Nirman 2018 initiative and proposed new transaction model for future greenfield airports. Looking at things from a global perspective, international experiences show that disproportionate attempts to regulate the airport business could discourage investment in the future. This isn’t good at all as it increases the risk of serious capacity constraints, which could limit economic development and result in bottlenecks, flight delays and deteriorating customer service.
CARGO CALLING
In September, I had the privilege of addressing an audience of international delegates at the ICAO Air Cargo Development Forum in Zhengzhou, China.
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DATE IN UZBEKISTAN
I have no doubt that China’s Belt and Road initiative will help reshape global trade and have a significant impact on the development of countries across Central Asia. I was therefore delighted to recently be given the opportunity to attend a conference in Uzbekistan and tell the Central Asian aviation community more about ACI and its offerings. As a result of the trip, we look forward to extending our influence across the region and, of course, hope that more Central Asian airports will become members of ACI Asia-Pacific.
CUSTOMER EXCELLENCE GLOBAL SUMMIT
ACI organised the inaugural ACI Customer Excellence Global Summit in Halifax, Canada, this September. It provided the industry with a much-needed platform for airports around the world to convey their customer service experience and share best-practices and lessons learned. The event combined the traditional ASQ Forums held across the ACI Regions into a single, high-profile, international gathering and included the prestigious ASQ Awards ceremony where Asia-Pacific airports once again picked up a host of awards. During the latter half of the event, delegates addressed customer excellence challenges and opportunities including the return on experience, collaboration for the customer,
management of customer satisfaction during emergencies and disruptions, passenger experience technology, smart investment, and services for passengers with reduced mobility. With such a programme the summit is destined to become the most respected industry event for the promotion of customer service excellence.
CONCLUSION OF 2018 WBP AIRPORT TOUR
Talking about successful events, I wanted to quickly note that we have successfully concluded our Asia-Pacific World Business Partners (WBP) Airport Tour for 2018. The tour provided our World Business Partners with the unique opportunity to meet with senior airport executives and learn more about some of the exciting business opportunities available at airports across the region. This year we managed to bring nine companies to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Bangkok (Thailand) and Siem Reap (Cambodia). I would like to take this opportunity to thank our host airports and, of course, our members for supporting the initiative. You can be assured that we are already working on next year’s programme and look forward to bringing you more details about this in the near future.
FINAL COUNTDOWN
This ‘Planning & Design’ themed issue of Asia-Pacific Airports is being published in time for the ACI Asia-Pacific Small & Emerging Airports Seminar in Langkawi, Malaysia, on October 10-12. The seminar, which this year is being hosted with the full support of Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad, is really one of the industry’s most unique events as it brings together members from across the Asia-Pacific region to discuss the challenges specific to small and emerging airports. Next up is the Trinity Forum in Shanghai, China, on October 31 to November 1, followed by Airport Exchange in Oslo, Norway, from November 27 – 29. I hope you will be able to join us at both of these important global shows, which will draw an exciting year to a close for APA ACI Asia-Pacific events. www.aci-apa.com
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Arguably the less fashionable part of the business, and all too easy to overlook as the more glamorous passenger side of the things grabs all the attention, it was good to reflect on the importance of air cargo to the region’s airports and discuss some of the emerging issues that will potentially impact on its development. Going forward, it is essential that air cargo’s processes, procedures and international standards are better aligned with modern demands and capabilities to ensure that the system operates as smoothly and efficiently as possible. ACI applauds ICAO’s leadership as it bids to modernise the regulatory framework for global air cargo to help the industry meet these challenges.
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NEWS
CAI AWARDED FUKUOKA AIRPORT CONCESSION Changi Airports International (CAI), the international investment arm of the Changi Airport Group (CAG), has confirmed that it will add Japan’s Fukuoka Airport to its airport portfolio on April 1, 2019, courtesy of its stake in the Fukuoka Airport HD Group. Fellow consortium members include Fukuoka Airport Holdings, Nishi-Nippon Railroad, Mitsubishi Corporation and Kyushu Electric Power. In line with the original proposal, the consortium seeks to transform Fukuoka into the airport of choice for passengers and airlines, and has set its sights on obtaining a five-star rating from aviation consultancy SKYTRAX. In an effort to expand the airport’s route network, the group insists that it will work to attract more airlines to Fukuoka Airport by offering simplified landing-fee structures and long-term discounts that will encourage the launch of new domestic and international flights.
It will also take steps to ensure that the airport provides travellers with more efficient services at check-in and security clearance and has promised to introduce a number of brand new concepts to the airport. “Travellers will be constantly surprised with ways to have fun with a wider selection of food and beverage outlets, and retail options, as well as on-site entertainment,” says the consortium. In addition, the consortium says that it will continue to work with local businesses to “revitalise the airport”, “ensure safe and secure operations” and “stimulate economic development in the immediate surroundings, and across Kyushu and the rest of Western Japan.” CAI’s global assets include a 40% share in the consortium responsible for operating Rio de Janeiro’s Tom Jobim International Airport (Galeão) and a 30% stake in Basel Aero, the management company trusted to develop the Russian airports of Krasnodar, Sochi, Anapa and Gelendzhik in Krasnodar Krai.
SWEET SUCCESS Hong Kong International Airport is now even more colourful and appealing following the opening of an innovative new confectionery outlet containing eight sweet shops. SWEET DREAMS by HEINEMANN covers an 820sqm area in Terminal 1, which the duty free operator says “focuses on sweet temptations”. Each of the eight shops, ranging in size from 57sqm to 186sqm, has been designed according to an “extraordinary theme” ranging from the colourful diversity of a mysterious underwater world to the magical world of a bustling fair. While entertainment such as 3D shows, chocolate printers, virtual reality entertainment and kid’s’ games are designed to engage and delight visitors. “We want to redefine the possibilities of presenting confectionery with our concept, and create a really fun shopping ambience that inspires and captivates our customers,” enthuses Heinemann Asia Pacific’s CEO, Marvin von Plato. APA Issue 3, 2018
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CELEBRATIONS AS SIHANOUK OPENS NEW TERMINAL Cambodians celebrate the opening of Sihanouk International Airport’s new-look terminal, which has been revamped and expanded as part of a $150 million investment programme. The airport handled a record 338,000 passengers in 2017 and with traffic numbers set to soar over the next five years – the beach resort of Sihanoukville is one of the fastest growing destinations in the country for foreign tourists – operator, Cambodia Airports, felt that the time was right for an upgrade. As a result, the terminal has almost doubled in size to 4,800sqm and boasts new and improved check-in and departures halls, a modernised baggage reclaim area and a host of new equipment that includes the installation of a state-of-the-art baggage handling system (BHS). The airport is also quick to note that in addition to the enhanced overall comfort levels provided by the newly expanded complex, the terminal now offers a range of new F&B outlets and commercial facilities operated by local and international brands such as The Monkey Republic, Blue Flight and Plaza Premium Lounge. Nicolas Notebaert, director general of VINCI Concessions and president of VINCI Airports, which holds a controlling 70% stake in Cambodia Airports, says: “We are opening a new chapter in the development of Sihanouk International Airport, to help promote the economic, tourist and social growth of the coast of Cambodia.”
APRON EXPANSION PROJECT AT MACAU INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT Mott MacDonald is providing airfield and apron design consultancy services to Macau International Airport as the gateway looks to expand the airfield next to its south terminal to accommodate future traffic growth. The gateway handled four million passengers in the first half of 2018, up 20% from the previous year, and passenger numbers are expected to keep growing during the second half of the year as new airlines launch routes to Macau. Mott MacDonald will deliver civil, structural, electrical and mechanical engineering, apron planning, airport systems and technical advisory services on the apron expansion project. Once complete, the apron will cater for all required aircraft types, while its multi-centreline stands configuration will be a first for the airport. Kwai Chan, Mott MacDonald’s project manager, said: “It’s great to be able to introduce a new multi-centreline stands parking arrangement at Macau, which will help maximise land use. “This latest commission builds on our long-term commitment to improving operations at the airport. We worked on the extension of the north terminal, which opened to passengers earlier this year, from concept to completion, while we’re currently working on the east apron optimisation project which is already underway. We also designed overlay for the airport’s single runway, which will improve its strength and cater for rapidly increasing aircraft traffic once operational.” www.aci-apa.com
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Regional update
Vivian Fung reports on the latest news, views and developments from across the busy Asia-Pacific region.
ACI SHOWS SUPPORTS FOR AUSTRALIA’S AIRPORTS
ACI Asia-Pacific’s regional director, Patti Chau, and ACI World director general, Angela Gittens, recently met with Australian MPs and key Australian airports to counter airline accusations that airports were hindering industry growth. Accusation number one came from airline group, Airlines for Australian and New Zealand (A4ANZ), which claims that Australian and New Zealand airports are not working on behalf of passengers. While accusation number two came from IATA in the form of a statement claiming that airport privatisations have not been successful, and that there was a need to step up regulation on airport charges. In response, ACI told the press that Australia’s light-handed airport regulatory framework has been so successful that it is now considered to be a global role model. ACI noted that privatisation has been a successful way for airports to secure crucial APA Issue 3, 2018
investment to finance much needed infrastructure improvements. Indeed, private investment has been a successful option for airports in Australia, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, India and many European countries. It also confirmed that airport charges relative to other airline costs have remained unchanged for both public and private airports for decades (just under 4%). Furthermore, ACI revealed that airport liberalisation has helped increase choice, foster lower airfares, and passenger growth. It added that airlines should also recognise that spiralling passenger demand requires airports to invest in more capacity. Finally, ACI noted that it has a neutral position on airport ownership – repeating the mantra that there is no “one size fits all” model given the large variety of social and economic circumstances.
March 12-14 ACI Airport Economics & Finance Conference and Exhibition London, UK
November 27-29 Airport Exchange 2018 Oslo, Norway
2018
Oct 31-Nov 1 The Trinity Forum Shanghai, China
2019
April 2-4 ACI Asia-Pacific/ World Annual, General Assembly, Conference & Exhibition Hong Kong
ACI ASIA-PACIFIC BOARD
PRESIDENT
Seow Hiang Lee* (Changi Airport Group Pte Ltd, Singapore)
FIRST VICE PRESIDENT
Emmanuel Menanteau* (Kansai Airports, Japan)
SECOND VICE PRESIDENTS
Kjeld Binger (Airport International Group, Jordan) Fred Lam (Airport Authority Hong Kong, Hong Kong)
SECRETARY-TREASURER
Sheikh Aimen bin Ahmed Al Hosni* (Oman Airports Management Company, Oman)
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad Abdul Majid** (GMR Airports Limited, India)
REGIONAL BOARD DIRECTORS
Badr Mohammed Al-Meer (Hamad International Airport, Qatar) HE Ali Salim Al Midfa (Sharjah Airport Authority, UAE) Gholam Hossein Bagherian (Iran Airports & Air Navigation Company, Iran) Il-Young Chung (Incheon International Airport Corporation, Korea) Geoff Culbert (Sydney Airport, Australia)
Eric Delobel (Cambodia Airports, Cambodia)
Xue Song Liu* (Beijing Capital International Airport Co Ltd, China) Pedro Roy Martinez (AB Won Pat International Airport Authority, Guam) Guruprasad Mohapatra (Airports Authority of India, India)
Dar-jen Tseng (Taoyuan International Airport Corporation, Chinese Taipei) Kejian Zhang (Guangdong Airport Authority, China)
REGIONAL BOARD DIRECTOR (WBP)
Greg Fordham (Airbiz Aviation Strategies Pty Ltd, Australia)
ACK Nair (Cochin International Airport Limited, India) Futoshi Osada (Narita International Airport Corporation, Japan) Sasisubha Sukontasap* (Airports of Thailand Public Co Ltd, Thailand) * WGB member **Regional Advisor on WGB
The ACI Asia-Pacific region represents 105 members operating 585 airports in 48 countries and territories. www.aci-apa.com
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EVENTS 2019 2018
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SECTION ACI ASIA-PACIFIC TITLE NEWS PROMOTING RENEWABLE ENERGY AT AIRPORTS
The Regional Office took the opportunity to promote Airport Carbon Accreditation, Green Airports Recognition and ACI Asia-Pacific’s resolution on renewable energy at the ICAO Capacity Building Seminar on Low Emissions Aviation Measures in May. All three initiatives were highlighted by ACI Asia-Pacific during the Renewable Energy at
MONEY MATTERS
Airports session at the event, which was hosted in Nadi by the Civil Aviation Authority of Fiji. Participants at the seminar also discussed ICAO State Action Plans; renewable energy at airports; sustainable aviation fuels; support for small island developing states (SIDS) in the Pacific; financing low emissions aviation measures; and renewable energy.
ACI’s Economics team stepped up its advocacy efforts on behalf of the world’s airports in the first half of 2018, holding meetings with government officials, economic regulators and airport members in China, Japan, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Airport charges, privatisation, airport networks and slot allocation were just a few of the topics on the table during the meetings. On the issue of airport charges, upon hearing ACI share insights from the ACI European Study Insights into the Logic of Air Fares, many ministry officials and regulators expressed interest in seeing where AsiaPacific would stand in comparison to Europe. On airport networks and slots, ACI provided an overview on the progress achieved thus far and solicited support from the relevant ministry officials to vote in favour of the ACI position at the upcoming ICAO Airport Economics Panel Meeting (February, 2019) and the ICAO 40th Assembly (autumn 2019) where these topics will be presented and discussed. On privatisation, ACI provided recommendations to the relevant ministry officials as per the ACI Policy Brief Creating Fertile Grounds for Private Investment in Airports. APA Issue 3, 2018
ACI ASIA-PACIFIC’S ECONOMIC REVIEW
The 2017 issue of the ACI Asia-Pacific Regional Economics Committee’s Asia-Pacific Economic Review provides regional insights on the economic and business environment; identifies trends in air traffic; highlights major airport developments projects and privatisation trends; and examines key performance indicators on airport economics. This year’s review also includes an in-depth analysis of the sub-regional low-cost carrier (LCC) markets, and special discussions on how airports are meeting the capacity challenge. ACI members are always welcome to suggest relevant topics for consideration in future annual studies. An excerpt of the report is available on the ACI Asia-Pacific website. Members interested in the full version of the study please write to Suzanne Tong at suzanne@aci-asiapac.aero
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DNA SEMINAR IN HAIKOU
HNA Airport Group Co Ltd hosted this year’s third ACI-DNA Seminar on ‘Airport Customer Service’ in Haikou, China, at the end of August. The two-day seminar was well-attended by 30 airport representatives from Cambodia, China, India, Maldives and Tonga. The seminar was conducted by management consultant and former director for customer services and standards at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Joanne Paternoster. During the event, participants discussed topics such as taking a holistic approach to managing the customer experience; collaboration with business partners; airport brandbuilding; employee engagement; and measuring customer satisfaction.
STRONG TRAFFIC GROWTH
Our region recorded strong traffic growth in June with passenger numbers across Asia-Pacific and the Middle East rising by 9.7% and 8.5% respectively. India delivered growth of 14.7%. The upward trend in passenger traffic continued to ease from last year and the domestic sector gained +16.5%. Top volume drivers for the month were Bangalore (BLR) +29%, Delhi (DEL) +10.8% and Hyderabad (HYD) +20.5%. Passenger traffic growth in China reached +10.4%, sustained by vigorous domestic and international demand. Out of the top 10 airports in Asia-Pacific that generated the highest domestic passenger volume increase from last year, six were from China, with the top three being Shenzhen (SZX) +12.5%, Beijing (PEK) +7.1%, and Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) +10.3%. Passenger traffic growth in a number of Asia-Pacific markets benefited from the timing
of Ramadan and post-holiday travels. Jakarta (CGK) +22.6% topped the region generating the highest total passenger volume increase in June while Kuala Lumpur (KUL) also grew at +9.7%. The 8.5% upturn in passenger numbers in the Middle East represents the highest monthly growth rate since April 2017. The increase was in part attributed to the timing of Ramadan. Dubai (DXB), the largest airport in the region, recorded double-digit increase at +11.7%, its highest since July 2016. In addition, Doha (DOH), reported strong growth at +12.6%, benefiting from a lower base last year as the diplomatic crisis in Qatar reached its 12-month mark. Other strong performers were: Kuwait (KWI) +19.2%, Amman (AMM) +17.1% and Beirut (BEY) +16.7%. The June figures mean that passenger numbers across Asia-Pacific and the Middle East grew by 8.6% and 0.7% in the first half of 2018. www.aci-apa.com
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AIRPORT REPORT: HONOLULU
Green Hawaii Ross Higashi, head of Hawaii’s airports division, talks to Joe Bates about traffic growth, infrastructure development and sustainability initiatives at Honolulu’s Daniel K Inouye International Airport.
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onolulu’s Daniel K Inouye International Airport (HNL) is the largest of Hawaii’s 15 airports and effectively the remote US island state’s gateway to the world, handling in excess of 20 million passengers per annum. Indeed, the Oahu located airport handled a total of 20.3 million passengers in FY2017 as more than 27 airlines offered direct services to 24 cities in mainland USA and 24 international destinations in Canada and across the Asia-Pacific region. Its status is perhaps not surprising as around 70% of the state’s population of 1.4 million live on Oahu, which is also home to the University of Hawaii and a host of other campuses that are hugely popular with Asian students, particularly from Japan, Korea and China. Kahului (7mppa), Lihue (3mppa), Kona (3.4mppa) and Hilo (1.3mppa) – located on Maui, Kauai and the latter two on Hawaii (The Big Island) respectively – make up Hawaii’s APA Issue 3, 2018
five big airports, all of which are owned by the state and operated by the Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT). Nearly all the 9.4 million tourists to visit Hawaii last year arrived by aircraft helping support 204,000 jobs across the state as they spent $16.8 billion (+6.2%) on local goods and services, generating close to $2 billion in tax revenue. And with more than 80% of all the food eaten in Hawaii imported from the US mainland or overseas and similarly high figures for all consumer goods, there is simply no doubting how important HNL and Hawaii’s other airports are to the continued success of the state. So, was the 2017 calendar year a good, bad or indifferent one for HNL? “I’d say a 4.9% rise in the total number of passenger handled in Honolulu, which was right in line with our expectations, made it a good year for the airport,” enthuses Ross Higashi, deputy director of HDOT’s Airports Division.
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United (15%), Delta (15%), American (7%), Japan Airlines (7%) and Alaska (5%) accounting for the bulk of the enplaned traffic with the remaining 20% split between the 18 other airlines serving Daniel K Inouye International Airport. Higashi reveals that he is happy with the number of destinations currently served from HNL, although he would always like to see some more, and he is set to get his wish soon as Southwest Airlines will launch services to HNL later this year or early next.
TRAFFIC
Having recently been granted permission to operate to HNL, Southwest has announced its intention to launch non-stop services to Hawaii from the Californian cities of Oakland (OAK), San Jose (SJC), San Diego (SAN) and Sacramento (SMF). The airline also wants to operate an “inter-island” service between the Hawaiian Islands, although it has yet to announce launch dates for any of these services. One of Hawaii’s main inter-island carriers, Island Air, ceased operations last year after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Higashi says: “We continue to work with Southwest Airlines and they are on track to begin service to Hawaii by early 2019. Similar to Southwest’s impact at other markets, the Airports Division anticipates that Southwest may stimulate the market with lower fares and capture some of the passenger share held by current carriers.” And there is more good news on the way as Japanese airline, ANA, is set to launch daily A380 services between Honolulu and Tokyo in March 2019 following the planned upgrade of two airbridges that will allow the gateway to handle the giant double-decker aircraft.
Americans and, indeed, America’s love of Hawaii, ensures that domestic traffic currently accounts for 75% of all traffic handled at Daniel K Inouye International Airport, and that is unlikely to change much in the future. Los Angeles, the nearest major US city to Hawaii and gateway to the islands for many, remains HNL’s most popular route accounting for 16.6% of all passengers. The next most popular routes are Tokyo Narita (14.5%) and San Francisco (8.7%) followed by Seattle, Phoenix, Oakland, Vancouver, Kansai, Incheon and San Jose, California. Hawaiian Airlines is by far and away the biggest operator in Hawaii accounting for 49% of all overseas and inter-island flights and, arguably, HNL and the state’s other airports continue to reap the benefits of its success. As HDOT Aviation Division’s former deputy director and current administrative director at the Office of the Governor, Ford Fuchigami, once told me: “Hawaiian Airlines is possibly one of the state’s most successful advertising tools as every time someone sees one of its aircraft parked at an airport around the world they think of the islands.” The next biggest airlines at HNL in terms of market share after Hawaiian are United (11%), Delta (10%), American (5%), Japan Airlines (5%) and Alaska Airlines (3%). For the overseas market share, the traffic mix is diverse with Hawaiian Airlines (30%),
ROUTE DEVELOPMENT
FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
Regular visitors to HNL will have noticed plenty of changes over the last four years as its West and Central wings have been renovated. The gateway also has an impressive new digital wayfinding system, introduced free Wi-Fi courtesy of Boingo www.aci-apa.com
AIRPORT REPORT: HONOLULU
“The improving US economy led to a healthy 5.1% increase in domestic travel, while international traffic numbers also increased by 4.6%. When the US economy does well, generally Hawaii does well, as most of our visitors are American.” Japanese, Chinese and Korean visitors make up the bulk of foreign visitors to Hawaii and in fact many Hawaiians, including Higashi, have Japanese ancestry, which for some dates back to the 1890s when Japanese farmers and agricultural workers made up 25% of Hawaii’s population.
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AIRPORT REPORT: HONOLULU
earlier this year, and has enhanced its gardens and a number of other facilities in a bid to boost the airport experience. However, with traffic on the rise and demand meaning that gates are already at a premium between 10am and 2pm each day, it probably won’t come as a surprise to learn that HDOT has a number of projects either underway or on the drawing board to ensure that the lack of capacity never holds back growth at HNL. “We have 47 gates today and everyone is taken during the 10am to 2pm timeframe, which means that the airport faces a number of capacity issues on a daily basis,” admits Higashi, although he is quick to note that outside of these times HNL is more than equipped to cope with demand. On June 1, ground was broken on the construction of HNL’s new Mauka Concourse, which according to the airport will deliver it with “260,000 square feet of environmentally friendly space designed to enhance the overall passenger experience” and 11 new gates when it opens in 2020. At the time, Governor of Hawaii, David Ige, noted: “I’m thrilled to get underway with construction of a new concourse at the state’s busiest airport. In two and a half years, we will deliver a beautiful new facility to the residents of our state and the visitors who come to Hawaii from around the world.” While Blaine Miyasato, co-chair of the Airlines Committee of Hawaii, said: “The project is really the tangible first step in the modernisation of the Daniel K Inouye International Airport and will add much needed gates to accommodate growing demand at Hawaii’s busiest airport. We look APA Issue 3, 2018
forward to the opening of a new world class facility here in Honolulu.” Located on the Ewa side of the airport and connected to terminal 1 (the current inter-island terminal), the $220 million two-level complex will be a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver Certified facility and feature 11 gates capable of accommodating narrowbody aircraft or six gates for widebodies. The second level departure area will include a new air-conditioned Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint with six lanes to screen passengers faster and reduce the amount of time spent in security lines. To make room for the new Mauka Concourse, the project will demolish the existing Commuter Terminal building and annex, including the ground level parking Lot B and terminal roadways. And there’s more to come as HDOT recently revealed an ambitious plan for a new $1.1 billion, 800,000-square-foot Diamond Head concourse to replace the existing facility, which is nearly 50-years-old. When it becomes reality, the new concourse will be located on the east side of the airport and is expected to have up to 16 gates – 12 to 14 of which would be for use by widebody aircraft – as well as a second international arrival facility with customs and border protection, an improved security checkpoint and a commuter terminal if necessary. Higashi reveals that HDOT is currently in the conceptual planning and design phase for the new facility which is expected take about eight to 10 years to complete and become operable.
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SUSTAINABILTY EFFORTS
As you would imagine from an airport located in one of the most beautiful places on earth, HDOT is very environmentally aware and HNL has a long track record of green initiatives. Highlights include the introduction of the US’s largest energy saving performance contract with a private company (Johnson Controls) which will lead to a 49% reduction in energy consumption across Hawaii’s airports and will save $518 million in electrical costs over a 20-year period.
www.aci-apa.com
AIRPORT REPORT: HONOLULU
He says: “We know what we want and need, and we know where we want it to be located, so it is just a question of fine-tuning the plan to get the necessary approval from the airlines for the design and, of course, the cost of the facility, which ultimately will be passed on to them. “The new concourse will accommodate increasing demand by multiple airlines to bring more flights to Hawaii.” In the meantime, HDOT is investing around $15 million on refurbishing the existing Diamond Head Concourse to extend its life for another eight to ten years by making it more fit for purpose and passenger friendly. On the cards are plans for more rest rooms, additional retail/F&B outlets and a fresh, new look for the facility that is primarily used by United Airlines passengers. Elsewhere at HNL the construction of a new Consolidated Rent-A-Car (CONRAC) facility is about 50% done, although unlike the one nearing completion at Kahului Airport, buses powered by alternative fuels instead of a tram will link it to the terminals.
As a result of the decision, Johnson Controls will complete more than 900 individual conservation measures, which includes the replacement of nearly 98,000 light fixtures with high-efficiency light-emitting diode (LED) technology and energy efficient lighting, upgrading ventilation and air-conditioning systems and installing more than 33,000 solar photovoltaic panels. Over 20,000 photovoltaic panels have already been installed across Hawaii’s airports and they will soon be joined by another 4,260 on the roof level of HNL’s Terminal 1’s parking garage above a new car port, which will also add shaded parking for vehicles, when complete. The new panels – which align with Governor Ige and the State of Hawaii’s goal to only use 100% renewable energy by 2045 – will provide enough energy to power more than 328 homes for a year and are expected to nearly halve the airport’s annual electricity bill. “There is so much to like about this improvement project. It’s good for the environment, it will save the state money and it provides covered parking at the airport,” enthuses Governor Ige. “This is another step forward in my administration’s continuing mission to meet Hawaii’s sustainability goals.” Environmental efforts such as these have helped Daniel K Inouye International Airport become one of only 16 airports in North America to achieve Level 2 – Reduction status in ACI’s Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) programme. The programme recognises airports worldwide that are committed to managing their carbon footprint through measurement and reduction with the ultimate goal of carbon neutrality. Higashi, who reveals that HDOT recently launched a water recycling pilot programme at HNL to treat and re-use waste water for irrigation and other non-drinking purposes, says: “Protecting our natural environment is, APA and always will be, a top priority.”
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Building for the future
With a new runway, terminal, SKYCITY and other airport city projects being developed on the airport site, these are busy and exciting times for Hong Kong International Airport, writes Joe Bates.
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ike all busy hubs, Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) is constantly striving to make best use of its existing facilities while busily planning for the future, and with traffic demand soaring and set to exceed 100 million passengers and nine million tonnes of cargo per annum by 2030, it needs to open a host of new facilities over the next decade just to cope with demand. Without doubt the the most high-profile of its infrastructure development programmes is the $18 billion (HK$141.5bn) Three-runway System (3RS) project, which will involve the construction of a third runway and associated taxiways, new terminal and third runway concourse on 650 hectares of reclaimed land by 2024. APA Issue 3, 2018
However, it is far from the only project going on at HKIA right now as the gateway aims to enhance its capacity, improve its service offering to passengers and boost its non-aviation related revenues – and subsequently its economic importance to Hong Kong – through the further development of SKYCITY and other commercial projects. In response to why the airport needs a third runway, Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) CEO, Fred Lam, notes that the 72.9 million passengers and five million tonnes of cargo that passed through the gateway in 2017 was 3.3% and 9.4% up respectively on the previous year. He admits that the airport’s existing 3.8 kilometre long parallel runways are
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THREE-RUNWAY SYSTEM (3RS)
Construction of the new 3RS at HKIA actually started in August 2016 and Lam notes that the eight-year project is on target to be completed on schedule in 2024, with the third runway opening in 2022 and new 280,000 square-metre terminal two years later. The new terminal building with 57 aircraft parking positions will be located directly north of the existing Terminal 1 and south of the new third runway and connected to an expanded Terminal 2 by an underground tunnel served by a 2,600-metre long Automated People Mover (APM) system. The new facilities – together with the modification and expansion of the existing Terminal 2 to ensure that it is equipped to
provide “fully-fledged terminal services with departure and arrival facilities” – will allow HKIA to serve an additional 30 million passengers annually, potentially rising to an extra 50 million with a future expansion to the new concourse. First conceived in 2008 and fine-tuned over the next few years before winning government approval and passing one of the toughest Environmental Impact Assessment studies in Hong Kong’s history, the 3RS will also include a new high-speed baggage handling system and expanded road and transportation networks. The scale of works is similar to the construction of a new airport, the first four years of which will effectively be spent on reclaiming land from the sea using a new, more environmentally friendly nondredging method called ‘deep cement mixing’, which has never been tried in Hong Kong before. And the new method, which involves treating the seabed before the reclamation work starts later this year, is just one of the many green and sustainable design, construction and operational initiatives incorporated into the project. AAHK expects to issue the tender for the construction of the new runway later this year and award it next year ahead of work beginning on it in 2020. The airport currently handles around 1,150 aircraft movements a day, which www.aci-apa.com
SPECIAL REPORT: PLANNING & DESIGN
fully stretched during peak hours, but it is only when he hails the 30 minutes the airport has managed to shave off of the time it takes to carry out nightly routine maintenance to its runways that it becomes clear what a huge difference another runway will make to HKIA. “Thirty minutes might not sound a lot, but it means that we can use the runway for half an hour more a day and that means another sixteen flights,” enthuses Lam. “Over the course of a year that’s an extra 5,840 flights, which is significant.”
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SPECIAL REPORT: PLANNING & DESIGN amounts to around 420,000 aircraft movements yearly, although as mentioned earlier he believes that there is room to “squeeze a few more flights in”. When the 3RS is up and running the airport will be able to accommodate an extra 180,000 flights per annum.
SKYCITY
Roxy Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of New World Development Company Limited, was recently awarded the contract to develop and manage “a world-class destination commercial development” in Hong Kong International Airport’s SKYCITY. Scheduled to be opened in phases from 2023 to 2027, the development will provide a maximum gross floor area of 350,000 square metres, with retail, dining and state-of-the-art entertainment facilities tailor-made for visitors and local residents of different ages. It will be the largest integrated retail, dining and entertainment development in Hong Kong and a key development in the airport’s development of its own airport city. APA Issue 3, 2015
SKYCITY is being developed on a 25-hectare site that will also feature independently built and operated hotels, cargo and logistic buildings and other aviation and non-aviation related facilities. The airport’s 1,255-hectare site will grow to 1,900 hectares when the reclamation work for the 3RS is finished, and Lam is in no doubt that its ‘airport city’ will eventually grow beyond its Lantau Island home and into other parts of the territory, cementing HKIA’s status as a key economic generator for Hong Kong.
TERMINAL 1 UPGRADE AND SKY BRIDGE
Lam says the upgrade and expansion of Terminal 1 is essential to ensure that HKIA continues to provide the quality services people have come to expect from it, readily accepting that the airport didn’t have the luxury of waiting for the new terminal to open in six years’ time before carrying out the work. He also admits that part of the reason for the upgrade was that AAHK doesn’t want Terminal 1 to be perceived as “old and outdated” when the new state-of-theart terminal opens in 2024.
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SPECIAL REPORT: PLANNING & DESIGN “By the time the new terminal is built, Terminal 1 will be as good as Terminal 2, so what I keep telling the local community is that by 2024 we are not only giving Hong Kong a new runway and a new terminal, we are giving it a new airport,” enthuses Lam. When finished, the new, more passenger-friendly T1 will have 48 additional check-in counters and two new baggage reclaim carousels, its own central courtyard with an outdoor garden, numerous new retail and F&B outlets and new self-service technologies designed to create a smooth and hasslefree airport experience. Indeed, this year the airport launched an advanced, mobile self-service check-in kiosk where passengers can simultaneously validate their travel documents, print boarding passes and tag their luggage. Perhaps most eye catching of all the projects currently going on at HKIA, however, will be Sky Bridge, the 200 metre long building over the airfield that will connect Terminal 1 and the North APA Issue 3, 2015
Satellite Concourse (NSC) saving up to 400 bus journeys a day between the complexes. Lam, who jokes that Sky Bridge is his “pet project”, notes that the airconditioned footbridge will be the highest point on the airfield other than the ATC tower – high enough for an A380 to pass under it – and boast its own restaurant and bar, arguably offering passengers the coolest place to relax and unwind at the airport. Such is the size of the building that its steel structure is currently being assembled off-site in China and when finished in early 2020 will shipped by boat to the airport and installed overnight to ensure its construction causes the minimum of disruption to daily operations at Asia-Pacific’s fourth busiest airport for passenger traffic. Lam says: “We spare no expense in enhancing efficiency and improving the passenger experience. I believe Sky Bridge will be unique and something really special as well as being good for the environment.”
APA
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Age concern
With people living longer than ever before, catering to an aging population is now an essential part of the airport design process, writes Corgan’s Jonathan Massey.
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s airport terminals move beyond being buildings that are simply a necessary part of the mode of transportation to an accommodating and thoughtful experience, we must look closely at the needs of the diverse populations using these facilities. A significant and growing segment of the population that needs carefully considered solutions are the elderly and those with limited mobility. As airports concentrate their focus on the passenger experience, key aspects of this demographic’s journey have moved to the foreground of terminal design and planning. APA Issue 3, 2018
These include targeted wayfinding improvements, fatigue and anxiety mitigation, innovative technologies to assist their movement through the facilities, and amenities that cater to the needs of this larger spectrum of the population. While following local laws and regulations are a prerequisite, airport owners, operators and designers should continually strive to reduce stress and anxiety by crafting spaces that enhance the travel experience for all passengers including those of advanced age and mobility-limited users. Corgan, an international architecture firm specialising in terminal design and
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planning, is one such entity working to improve the passenger experience for this growing population by applying evidence gained through recent research. Two tools that Corgan’s aviation designers and planners are employing are the Age Simulation Suit and Eye-tracking Glasses.
THE AGE SIMULATION SUIT
The Age Simulation Suit, also known as a GERT Suit, provides evidence based design data that helps designers understand the needs of the aging passenger by simulating the physical characteristics of an aged individual, actually putting designers in the shoes of an older person so they can experience the sensation of limited mobility, unsteady gait, degraded vision, reduced ability to perceive sound at various wavelengths and even simulated tremors in the hands. This experience is possible through the suit’s components that include special gloves designed to mimic hand tremors, goggles that blur vision or stimulate common eye diseases, knee and elbow braces that restrict movement and create joint stiffness, and a series of weighted attachments that simulate decreased muscle mass common in aged individuals.
In recent experiments conducted as training opportunities with Corgan staff, participants were asked to make their way through a typical pathway at an airport while wearing the suit. The results were documented with an eye toward potential improvements and insights for future terminal design strategies. One important lesson from the simulations was an appreciation for the anxiety these limitations created. Many participants commented on the difficulty and resulting stress they experienced. Landon Moore, an architect with Corgan’s aviation studio who assisted in developing the Age Suit programme, stated: “As I walked through the terminal, I couldn’t believe how anxious I felt because I could not get to where I wanted to go quickly.” It can be easily understood then that with the numbers of travelling aging passengers increasing each year, airports need to find ways to improve the level of passenger experience for this group. “The suit really made me think twice about how I design for the aging population on a daily basis,” says Moore. Ultimately, the goal of the Age Simulation experiments conducted by Corgan is to not only allow designers, in particular younger designers, the opportunity to experience www.aci-apa.com
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the limitations first-hand, but to explore innovative solutions that could help mitigate those limitations. “Having equally spaced rest areas along the passenger’s path would have really helped me out and been beneficial,” he notes. A terminal accommodation that Corgan is including in design discussions with airport stakeholders includes a series of ‘rest stations’ at key decision points along a passenger’s path where they can take a moment to regroup and confirm they are moving in the correct direction. In addition, implementing terminal programes with minimal or no changes in the level along primary pathways and incorporating easily accessible elevator and escalator cores are immediately beneficial to all passengers.
EYE-TRACKING WAYFINDING ANALYSIS
Another research programme underway at Corgan takes a detailed look at what passengers actually experience visually as they pass through a terminal environment. Designers are prone to believe they intuitively understand how the public will react in the spaces they create, but terminal interiors can be complex environments with multiple sources of visual stimuli competing for the passenger’s attention. Many times, components such as advertising, wayfinding signage, concessions, artwork, terminal lighting, and dynamic displays are not presented in a co-ordinated fashion. The eye-tracking wayfinding research uses wearable technology to gather real-time data on the passenger’s visual focus continuously along their entire journey through the terminal. Wearable eye-tracking devices are a powerful new technology that can benefit the passenger population as a whole. These devices have an embedded camera and tracking sensors APA Issue 3, 2015
that define and record the visual field of the wearer and any elements of fixation including duration of gaze. The output of the experience can then be analysed by designers. By having participants wear this technology, designers can better understand how passengers experience the terminal environment. This is beneficial to design teams because it validates predictions of passenger behaviour, such as passenger flow, buying behaviour and amenity utilisation. These glasses can also be a postoccupancy diagnostic tool to determine which signage, concessions, and advertising programs are working and which are not. Recent experiments at one of the top ten airports in the world have yielded fascinating results, especially when the data was aggregated by passenger type, including a demographic group of aging travellers. After analysing the aging population group’s findings in this particular
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experiment, it was determined the participants tended to look down and fixate on patterning in the floor more than any other group. This held true even in high volume spaces. In one of the study scenarios, the space had terrazzo flooring with decorative metal inserts at regular intervals throughout the concourse. The fixation points for many of the aging population group jumped from metal insert to metal insert as they navigated the space. Many times, key signage points, concession opportunities and important architectural wayfinding cues were missed because they were focused on the detailing in the floor pattern. These results highlight the importance of design decisions as they relate to the spatial quality of a terminal and its material finish-out. For example, if a large portion of passengers are not looking up, then signage opportunities at eye-level or above are not effective.
The perception of passengers and their experiences in an airport is as diverse as the passenger population itself. For an airport to be successful, it must be aware of the trends of the passenger population it serves and adjust to address their needs. With the travelling public maturing, airports need to evolve to meet this growing demographic. Retrofits to ramping systems and adequately sized and placed accessible toilet facilities are a start, but for an airport to truly be successful, it must be innovative in its approach to defining its interior environment. This starts with developing new ideas through experiential and qualitative research. Ultimately, the result is a seamless airport experience for everyone, unencumbered by obstacles and without APA excess stress and anxiety.
ABOUT THE AUTHOUR Jonathan Massey is a principal in the aviation practice at Corgan. www.aci-apa.com
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The shape of things to come
Vietnam’s planned new Long Thanh International Airport promises to be one of the most modern, innovative and exciting gateways in Asia-Pacific, writes Heerim’s Byungkoo Lee.
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ietnam’s much-awaited new international airport is set to be built in Long Thanh, Dong Nai Province, around 40 kilometres east of Ho Chi Minh City. Slated to open in 2025, the $16.3 billion airport will initially have a capacity of 25 million passengers per annum to ensure that the country’s economic capital is able to meet rapidly rising demand. However, with passenger numbers in Ho Chi Minh City currently rising by 20% annually and demand expected to exceed 50mppa by 2024, this is only the beginning for Long Thanh International, which will eventually be equipped to accommodate 120 million passengers. Indeed, its three-phase master plan outlines plans for a super hub with four runways and four passenger terminals APA Issue 3, 2018
capable of handling up to 120 million passengers by full build out in 2050. The city’s existing Tan Son Nhat (TSN) International Airport comfortably handled 36 million passengers in 2017 and will continue to be upgraded and expanded to meet the soaring air travel demand. But its location at the centre of a densely populated area of Ho Chi Minh City effectively rules out any significant new additions to its infrastructure and means that the government must look for capacity enhancing options elsewhere. Luckily, the need for a new international airport was identified by the Vietnamese government a decade ago, and in 2011 it approved a master plan for Long Thanh International Airport. Accordingly, the preparatory steps including land acquisition and funding
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DESIGN COMPETITION
With things finally moving ahead, a design competition for the new airport’s passenger terminal was held in 2016 and nine global design firms submitted entries, all of which were publicly displayed across Vietnam to allow the citizens of Hanoi, Da Nang and Dong Nai cities/provinces as well as Ho Chi Minh City to view them and pick their favourite. During this process, the design scheme by South Korean company, Heerim Architects & Planners (Heerim), received widespread acclaim and was also evaluated and praised by experts in several design reviews. As a result, its design was eventually chosen for the new terminal at Long Thanh International Airport.
AIRPORT EXPERIENCE
Heerim Architects & Planners is wellknown as the designer of Terminal 2 at Incheon International Airport, which has been named the Best Airport in the World in a host of different categories in ACI’s annual Airport Service Quality (ASQ) customer satisfaction survey almost since the day it opened. Our participation in Long Thanh International Airport will ensure innovative design solutions tailored to the effective delivery of the project. I am very familiar with it having led Heerim’s team during the design competition and am happy to share more information about the concepts behind the new airport and its timescale for development.
LOTUS PETALS
The design of Long Thanh International Airport’s passenger terminal was inspired by the elegance of full-blossomed lotus
petals, delicately embodied to complete the curvilinear shape of the terminal. We wanted to embrace the unique characteristics of Vietnamese culture in our design and chose the lotus flower as it is viewed as a source of inspiration because it signifies strength. The passenger terminal will occupy a total floor area of 400,000 square-metres spread over four floors that include separate Arrivals and Departures levels and a dedicated floor for baggage make-up. It will have 34 boarding gates that include four capable of handling aircraft up to the size of B747-800 and the A380. While a ground transportation centre and short-term parking will be conveniently located in front of the terminal to ensure quick and easy connections for passengers and visitors.
MEETERS AND GREETERS
One of the unique characteristics of the airport experience in Vietnam, as can be witnessed today at TSN International Airport, is the large number of meeters and greeters, travellers and well-wishers who intermingle with passengers in the terminal. This uniqueness is a part of the community-minded culture of Vietnam where people gather and share warm greetings and farewells with their family and friends. Therefore, it was essential to design the terminal with large spacious areas within and outside in an effort to embrace this cultural tradition. While the current TSN International Airport restricts the access of greeters/ well-wishers into the terminal due to limited space, the new Long Thanh International Airport is proactively considering allowing the access of visitors into the terminal.
BIGGER AND BETTER
The terminal’s check-in area will comprise six check-in islands – three on each side – located inside a Great Hall, a vast space www.aci-apa.com
SPECIAL REPORT: PLANNING & DESIGN
programmes were initiated from 2012 and, in 2015, the Pre-Feasibility Study Report for Long Thanh International Airport was approved by the National Assembly as the basis for implementation of the feasibility study for Phase 1 of the project.
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SPECIAL REPORT: PLANNING & DESIGN across four floor levels (Level 1 to Level 4) that is designed to delicately weave together the arriving and departing experiences of the terminal. Themed to feature ‘a harmonious balance between technology and nature’, LED lights and natural features accentuate the Great Hall as a place of relaxation and interaction as well as the key landmark feature of the Long Thanh international Airport. The Departures immigration area can be viewed from any direction, illuminated directly beneath the lotus-inspired skylights that exude a bright and cosy atmosphere. The scenic landscape of the Great Hall in the background should also ensure a pleasant boarding experience for travellers.
NATURE AND INNOVATION
The terminal’s central concession area will be nature-friendly and offer a range of traditional and diverse interactive activities to passengers. Its interior will be aesthetically crafted with bamboo-inspired sculptures, natural water features and multi-level decks promoting a cultural and comfortable shopping environment for all travellers. APA Issue 3, 2018
The daylight-filled boarding lounge with geometric skylights is expected to offer a warm and relaxing ambience for passengers, while different floor finishes will be used to functionally demarcate the difference between waiting and walking areas within the lounge. Calming colours and subtle, indirect lighting, will be a feature of the terminal’s Arrivals corridors to help ensure a warm and comforting welcome for travel weary passengers. Rhythmic advertising displays and billboards along the corridor will, however, provide a dynamic element. Two separate immigration areas – boasting soothing wood finishes on curvaceous ceilings and immigration counters – are designed to be easily accessible and navigable in order to facilitate swift passenger journeys through the immigration process. LED video walls displaying information about Vietnam, its culture and history as well as revenue generating advertising will provide a key feature of the baggage reclaim area.
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SPECIAL REPORT: PLANNING & DESIGN IT AND GREEN FEATURES
As you would expect of the airport of tomorrow, the terminal will be equipped with state-of-the-art information and communications technology to ensure a quick, easy and convenient airport experience for passengers. This will almost certainly include self-check-in and bag drop systems, automated passport control kiosks and other systems that put passengers more in control of their own journeys. The terminal is also set to be one of the greenest in the region courtesy of a diverse range of sustainable initiatives such as double layered roofing for natural ventilation and the use of solar energy that will guarantee that it is energy efficient with a low carbon footprint.
NEXT STEP
A Japanese-French-Vietnamese Joint Venture (JV) is currently conducting a feasibility study for the Phase 1 development of Long Thanh International Airport for the Vietnamese government. APA Issue 3, 2015
Groupe ADP subsidiary, ADP Ingénierie – the French part of the JV – has announced that it is working to a 14-month timeframe to “allow for final inspections and approvals of the project to be carried out by the Vietnamese National Assembly by the autumn of 2019”. Heerim, as the appointed subconsultant of the JFV JV, is scheduled to complete its basic design of the passenger terminal by the end of July next year. Ho Chi Minh City will operate a twoairport system when Long Thanh opens for business in 2025, the new gateway effectively becoming its new hub handling most international flights and 20% of domestic services, allowing TSN International Airport to primarily serve APA domestic air traffic.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Byugnkoo Lee is the executive vice president of Heerim, leading the firm’s global aviation design practice.
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Design and build Joe Bates takes a closer look at some of the many development projects going on across the region.
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CI’s Asia-Pacific region remains the hottest ticket in town for infrastructure development with a number of new airports being built while existing gateways continue to add new facilities. Indeed, as you may have read in the news section of this issue, Sihanouk International Airport in Cambodia recently opened an expanded and upgraded terminal and, in the last year, high-profile facilities such as Singapore Changi’s Terminal 4 and Incheon’s Terminal 2 have opened for business. All typify the type of infrastructure development programmes going on across the region as governments and airport operators in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East invest in new capacity enhancing facilities that will allow their respective gateways and airport systems to meet future demand. In fact as ACI Asia-Pacific regional director, Patti Chau, revealed earlier this year, the region is the busiest place on APA Issue 3, 2018
earth for airport development projects with its gateways being responsible for 48.5% of $500 billion global spend on upgrading existing airports and 57% of the $267 billion being invested on new airports. China alone is set to raise its number of commercial airports from 229 today to 260 by 2020 and 400 by 2035 as part of its ‘Belt and Road’ initiative, and India has set aside $2 billion for airport development over the next 15 years as it looks to make air travel affordable for its people and grow air links across the region. Major new airports on the horizon include Vietnam’s $16.3 billion Long Thanh International Airport – more details about the project can be found on page 30 of this issue – and New Manila Airport in The Philippines, which has a price-tag of $14 billion and is expected to open in 2025. This article provides a snapshot of the latest development news from China, Nepal and Singapore.
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the commercial offerings in the landside wing of the new terminal. As the new airport will be a key component of a planned new “air transportrelated economic zone”, the project brief calls for the purposeful design of a new generation of workspaces, with integrated retail, dining and entertainment offerings. As a result, Lead8 insists that it has adopted “a creative and inspiring approach in handling of the spaces, while working in collaboration with the operators”. It adds that the design will also accommodate “interactive” pet hotels, childcare facilities and hybrid online retail and dining as well as showroom for brands and companies for product launch and weekend activities. Simon Chua, co-founder and executive director of Lead8, said: “The new airport is a preview of the shape of the cities of the future. Our future workspaces are influenced by the changing lifestyles of a new generation, as work, entertainment and the hospitality industry come together to create new opportunities. “We hope this project will inspire future airport developments as there is a growing demand for quality workspaces with integrated natural environments, especially in Beijing.” The terminal itself and a 80,000sqm Ground Transportation Centre have been designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. A cavernous Central Atrium and six curved piers measuring up to 411 metres are key elements of the design of the terminal, which Zaha Hadid notes have been designed to be “extremely user-focused, efficient and adaptable for growth.” www.aci-apa.com
SPECIAL REPORT: PLANNING & DESIGN
CHINA’S BIG BUILD
China’s big build includes the construction of the $13.8 billion Beijing Daxing International Airport, which is set to be completed next year and the opening of new state-of-the-art terminals at Yantai, Changsha Huanghua , Hangzhou Xiaoshan and Xi’an Xianyang airports. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) recently announced that Beijing’s eagerly awaited new gateway, Daxing International Airport will open on October 1, 2019. Indeed, press reports in China quote CAAC’s head of administration, Feng Zhenglin, as saying that all the engineering projects associated with Beijing Daxing – including the construction of new road links – will be completed by the end of June next year. Located at Daxing, 60 kilometres south of Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, the new airport will eventually have seven runways and the capacity to handle over 100mppa making it one of the largest airports in the world. Upon opening next year, however, Beijing Daxing will be equipped to handle 45mppa courtesy of four runways and a 700,000sqm terminal, which will have a three-mile long façade. The first planned expansion phase will raise that capacity to 72 million passengers per annum by 2025, and eventually over 100mppa to complement today’s existing Beijing Capital International Airport, which handled 95.8 million passengers in 2017. In August, international architectural, master planning and interior design firm Lead8 was named as the lead designer for
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China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines will be the main carriers at the airport. An Aedas led team has been awarded the design and construction contract for the new Terminal 2 at Yantai International Airport Terminal. Aedas is the lead architect in an international team consisting of China South West Architectural Design and Research Institute (CSWADI) and New Era Airport Design Institute. Scheduled to open in 2021, the new 167,000-square-metre building will be located south of existing Terminal 1 and is expected to be serving 23 million passengers annually by 2030. And with a planned expansion to over 200,000 square metres, its capacity will rise to 34 million passengers per annum by 2040. The project is part of the airport’s Phase 2 expansion plan. According to Aedas, the sweeping roof form of the terminal is inspired by the Yantai’s majestic Kunyu Mountain. It notes: “Undulating skylights will bring light deep into the terminal’s Departures check-in and processing Halls. “The concourses are arranged to form a long coastline, with generous bays for aircraft parking and circulation. Skylights over the concourses guides passengers intuitively towards the departure gates.” The expansion project for Yantai International Airport is vital to allow the region to meet rapidly increasing demand for air travel generated by the growing Yantai and Shandong economies. Yantai is known for its unique coastal mountainscape. APA Issue 3, 2018
Elsewhere in China, Landrum & Brown (L&B) is involved in the design of new terminals at Changsha Huanghua (CSX), Xi’an Xianyang (XIY) and Hangzhou Xiaoshan (HGH) international airports. In Hunan Province it has teamed up with CSWADI and the China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group (CREEGC) to design the planned new 500,000sqm Terminal 3 at Changsha Huanghua International Airport. Designs by a L&B led team are also being used for the new 700,000sqm East Terminal and 400,000sqm Ground Transport Centre (GTC) at China’s eighth busiest gateway, Xi’an Xianyang International Airport. It is being supported on the $7 billion project by the North West Design Institute, Chinese Architectural Design Institute and other specialists. And L&B has joined forces with the East China Architectural Design & Research Institute (ECADI) and the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Architectural Design & Research (ZIAD) to design the new terminal at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport, currently China’s 10th busiest airport handling in excess of 31 million passengers per annum.
SINGAPORE
Seletar Airport’s new S$80 million passenger terminal has received its Temporary Occupation Permit and is on track to open for business at the end of the year. The 10,000sqm terminal is designed to handle up to 700,000 passengers per annum and is six times the size of the facility it will replace.
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NEPAL
Work has begun on the terminal buildings at Nepal’s new Pokhara Regional International Airport, which is set to replace the city’s existing gateway in 2021.
Pokhara, located in western Nepal, is one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations and the new airport – which will have separate domestic and international terminals – is expected to provide a major boost to tourism. Nepali Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Rabindra Adhikari, laid the foundation stone marking the start of construction of the terminal buildings which are expected to be completed within a year. According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), the new airport will have a 10,000sqm international terminal and a 4,000sqm domestic terminal and initially be capable of handling up to one million passengers per annum. Financed by a $215 million loan from the EXIM Bank of China and constructed by China CAMC Engineering, Pokhara Regional International Airport will be located three kilometres from the city’s existing gateway and also serve as an alternative gateway to Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport in the event of an emergency. Local papers quote Adhikari as stating that work on the airport’s 2.5 kilometre long runway capable of handling aircraft such as B737s, A320s and B757-200s would begin in August/September 2018. “The works are moving ahead smoothly as per the set timetable, and the airport will be brought into operation by July 2021,” Adhikari is quoted as stating. It is one of the three new international airports being built in Nepal, whose only international gateway today is in the APA capital city of Kathmandu. www.aci-apa.com
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According to operator, Changi Airport Group (CAG), the new terminal’s departure area will have four check-in counters, six immigration lanes, two security screening stations and a “spacious” gate holdroom capable of accommodating 200 passengers. It says that check-in, immigration and security screening counters are positioned in an “intuitive straight route through the departure hall”, enabling a quick and stress-free boarding process for passengers. CAG adds that the terminal’s interiors are designed to create a relaxed and comfortable feeling for passengers, and that it will have dedicated areas for passengers travelling on business charter flights and private jets. W hen the new terminal becomes operational, Firefly – currently operating 20 daily turboprop flights to and from Subang, Ipoh and Kuantan at Singapore Changi, will switch its operations to Seletar. The move, says CAG, ensures the “optimisation of resources within Singapore’s entire aviation system, as aircraft movements at Changi continue to increase”. Khoh Su Lim, associate general manager of Seletar Airport, says: “We look forward to providing passengers with a fresh experience, in terms of comfort and convenience, when the new terminal starts operations around the end of the year.”
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INDUSTRY NEWS
Growth and innovation News, views and reviews from ACI’s regional and global World Business Partners.
YVR’S NEW SELF-BAG DROP SOLUTION TO GO GLOBAL Glidepath and Vancouver International Airport’s Innovative Travel Solutions (ITS) team have celebrated the installation of the first CHECKITXPRESS self-bag drop unit at the Canadian gateway. CHECKITXPRESS claims to be the world’s most accessible, efficient and intuitive self-service bag drop on the market, improving ease of use for travellers regardless of age, digital fluency, language or mobility. And it is the direct result of the collaboration between the New Zealand based baggage handling solutions company and Vancouver International Airport (YVR), which is fast developing itself a reputation as a pioneer in the development of new technology. The reveal of CHECKITXPRESS at YVR comes at a time when the airport is experiencing APA Issue 3, 2018
unprecedented growth, and it believes that innovative technologies such as this one will help it continue to meet demand by improving the speed and ease of passenger and bag movement while delivering an outstanding customer experience. Glidepath and ITS applied ergonomic design principles by lowering the profile of the conveyor to four inches (10 centimetres) off the floor and creating durable ramps to wheel bags onto the conveyor. This allows CHECKITXPRESS to be accessible from multiple sides, offering a user-friendly bag-drop for all travellers. This industry first ultimately creates a more seamless and enjoyable travel experience for everyone. It also takes up less space in airport terminals and helps alleviate congestion in
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the bag drop area. Airports, it is claimed, will benefit by avoiding costly terminal expansions and saving valuable space for other airport features, amenities and procedures which ultimately helps increase overall competitiveness. “We strive to deliver an outstanding experience for every traveller that comes through YVR,” enthuses Craig Richmond, president and CEO, Vancouver Airport Authority. “This is an exciting time for us and offering solutions that are more accessible, efficient and intuitive enables us to prioritise speed and ease of movement for everyone, which improves overall traveller satisfaction.” Through its innovative camera technology and first-time read-rates on baggage, CHECKITXPRESS has achieved some of the quickest customer processing times in the industry. In fact, it boasts first-time read-rates of greater than 90% and the average processing time is eight seconds with no agent intervention or assistance required. By expediting the bag-drop process, it is claimed that CHECKITXPRESS offers a cost-effective solution to reducing passenger wait times, while taking pressure off essential airport personnel. “Glidepath is proud to partner with North America’s best airport on this major milestone for our industry,” says Sir Ken Stevens, chairman of Glidepath. “The holistic collaboration allowed us to create a truly unique product designed for the airport of the future.” With the installation of the first CHECKITXPRESS at YVR, ITS and Glidepath will roll out more units in the airport over the course of the year and is also planning to sell it to other airports around the world. The new solution follows the success of YVR’s BORDERXPRESS self-service border control kiosks, more than 1,300 of which have been sold to 41 airport and sea ports across the globe. The latest customer being Hermes Airports which operates Pafos and Larnaka airports in Cyprus.
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NEW DUTY FREE AND SPECIALITY STORES IN CAIRNS Lagardère Travel Retail has unveiled its full selection of Aelia Duty Free stores in Cairns International Airport’s Terminal 1. Having been awarded 10-year concessions to operate both Duty Free and Specialty stores in Cairns Airport, the group is reinforcing its strategic plan of operating three business units in one location – Duty Free & Fashion, Travel Essentials and Food Service – and strengthening its ongoing and successful relationship with the Australian gateway. Covering over 845 square metres of retail space in Departures and 167 square metres in Arrivals, passengers travelling through Terminal 1 will discover local, regional and international brands in an engaging world-class duty free environment. Showcasing the best of luxury products from various categories including alcohol, perfumes and cosmetics, confectionery, technology, sunglasses, local gourmet, gift and wellness products, Lagardère Travel Retail has also allocated a specific space to feature tech products through its Tech2Go concept, which it believes captures a strong sense of place through design elements such as extensive use of LED digital on key columns and ceilings, bringing the reef and rainforest experience of far North Queensland to life. This innovation allows tailored and customised messaging to the diverse mix of passengers travelling through Cairns International Airport. www.aci-apa.com
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OLYMPIC TASK FOR ROCKWELL COLLINS Rockwell Collins has developed an application that will enable airlines to convert critical aviation messages – known as ‘Type B’ or ‘XML’ – so that they are compatible with Japan’s recently introduced Advanced Cargo Information (ACI) programme. Japan Customs, which is one of the first agencies in the world to announce a live ACI programme, is doing so to enhance national security in preparation for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. ACI provides comprehensive electronic cargo information well ahead of the arrival of the goods in the country to aid logistics processing. Since Japan Customs expects to see a surge of cargo shipments during the summer games, the implementation of ACI will help both airlines and shippers enhance security. “With this first-of-its-kind conversion app, we can help numerous airlines seamlessly and accurately convert their Type B cargo messages to the new, required Japan ACI format,” says Michael DiGeorge, vice president of commercial aviation and network services at Rockwell Collins. “Through our company’s messaging expertise, we were able to quickly implement this new application so airlines can ensure they are compliant.” The new, value-added conversion service from Rockwell Collins is available to airline customers globally that are carrying cargo on flights to Japan. APA Issue 3, 2018
ICM Airport Technics Australia Location: Botany, NSW, Australia Contact: Tim Kotlar, general manager, sales E: tim.kotlar@icm.aero W: www.icm.aero ICM Airport Technics is a global company that specialises in the provision of self-service baggage solutions for airports and airlines. Since 2009, ICM has led the way with the most comprehensive range of self-service bag drop products to suit a large range of client needs and budgets. Having processed more than 60 million bags worldwide, ICM is an established global leader in providing airports with either retro-fitted or replacement type Auto Bag Drop (ABD) units. As the name suggests, ICM’s mission is to continually develop innovation that creates movement. ICM operates globally with offices in Australia, France, Singapore, Japan, UK and the USA. Digital Images International Location: Sydney, Australia Contact: Bernard Larkin, marketing manager E: sales@dii.com.au W: www.dii.com.au Digital Images International (DII) supplies Flight Information Display Systems (FIDS). The system is very high performance, with high reliability and a long life span. It is extremely fast, and can update all displays in less than one second. The system is multi-lingual, and operates in many languages, including Chinese, Thai and Arabic. Its scalable architecture allows expansion to any size. WebFIDS provides Flight Information on the airport’s web site for people away from the airport – taxi dispatch, offices, home, resorts and hotels.
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