Volume 17 (2022-2023)

Each volume of Journal of Airport Management consists of four 100-page issues published in both print and online. Articles scheduled for Volume 17 are available to view on the 'Forthcoming content' page.

The Articles published in Volume 17 include:

Volume 17 Number 4

Editorial
Simon Beckett, Publisher
Navigating digital transformation in airports : A disciplined approach to project portfolio selection and execution
Trevor Strome

Airports are undertaking digital transformation initiatives to achieve operations excellence, improve sustainability and enhance competitiveness. While digital transformation offers many potential benefits for airports, including improved insights, efficiencies, streamlined passenger journeys and new business/ revenue opportunities, there are risks associated with not utilising a disciplined approach when building a digital transformation project portfolio. Just as all airports are not the same, digital transformation initiatives are not ‘one size fits all’. Projects to introduce new systems and deploy new technology under the banner of digital transformation need to be in support of the strategic goals of the airport and in alignment with business and operational objectives. Digital transformation initiatives must also fit within the resource and skills capacity of the airport to successfully perform the work and provide the necessary post-deployment support afterwards. This paper posits that a disciplined and analytical approach to evaluating both the likely effort required for successful execution and the potential impact and value generated can assist airports with the selection and timing of projects, with the aim of avoiding ‘digital disappointment’. It concludes that digital transformation projects selected and sequenced on the basis of objective criteria are most likely to address the business and operational needs of individual airports and generate the most value for airport employees, stakeholders and passengers.
Keywords: digitalisation; digital ransformation; strategy; portfolio management; return on investment (ROI)
Embedding equity in airport operations and practices: A case study
Jay Doran and Tania Park

Government institutions play a key role in advancing equity or perpetuating systemic inequities. As part of a long-standing journey, the Port of Seattle became the first port authority in the US to establish an Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (OEDI) in 2019. Since this milestone, the country has navigated not only a pandemic, but also a period of racial reckoning, which accelerated the Port’s commitment and actions. This paper explores why the Port believes addressing equity and anti-racism is mission critical as a public sector institution and how doing so has the potential to have a positive impact on its mandate and outcomes. In addition, the paper explores three areas in which the Port has initiated systematic changes in efforts to embed equity in its operations and practices.
Keywords: equity; race; racism; BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of colour); best practice; budget; hiring; represented workers
Some thoughts on noise and its evolution around Geneva Airport
André Schneider

Today the aviation industry is strongly exposed to criticism based on its impact on climate change. While this is a very important challenge, the industry and especially airports also have a second important challenge: noise impact, which needs to be managed more strategically and proactively. This paper discusses the key factors that influence noise impact, looking at the influence of the evolution of passenger numbers and movements, the influence of the time slots used for these movements and the movements of the lowest noise class aircraft. It will also examine why the permissible noise curve currently under discussion is much larger than that of the 2009 noise register, the first definition by the Swiss aviation regulator of the foreseen noise impact of Geneva Airport. The paper will investigate to what extent Geneva Airport can influence the noise curves through opening hours and slot availability, as well as ways in which the airport might achieve the 20 per cent noise reduction announced in the aeronautical infrastructure sector plan of 2018. Finally, it will suggest a methodology to produce a forecast of noise impact based on key variables such as movements during specific hours of the day and the percentage of movements of aircraft of the lowest noise class.
Keywords: airport noise; noise evolution; noise management; noise reduction; forecasting noise evolution
Collaborative decision making is a key tool to address bottlenecks in airport operations
Rafael Fernández Villasante, Ignacio Biosca and Irene Gracia

The process based on sharing common information, establishing milestones and the continuous revision of the main targets that stems from airport collaborative decision making can be an ideal working method at many of the airport’s areas and with different stakeholders. This paper analyses various situations where this procedure has been implemented by Aena, with a specific focus on the COVID-19 crisis and the post-recovery context.
Keywords: A-CDM; stakeholders; information exchange; milestones; bottleneck; ramp-up
The role of airport costs in the post-9/11 recovery of San Francisco International Airport
Mark Kiefer and Christopher M. Diprima

This paper examines whether or to what extent San Francisco International Airport’s (SFO’s) purportedly high costs relative to other airports suppressed SFO’s traffic demand and prolonged the recovery of passenger traffic in the period after the 11th September, 2001 terrorist attacks. A comparative analysis of the historical data shows that SFO’s direct airport costs per enplanement (CPE) were higher than most other major airports in the post-9/11 period by a considerable margin, but that airport costs likely were not a significant factor in SFO’s prolonged recovery. Airport costs likely did not affect airline profitability sufficiently to influence route and scheduling decisions, and it is unlikely that passenger demand was dampened by the pass-through of higher costs to airfares. This research suggests at best a tenuous relationship between airport rates and passenger activity, and at SFO the evidence does not suggest that an extremely high CPE relative to peer airports affected the pace of its slow return to pre-9/11 traffic levels. Rather, the slow return of traffic to SFO and its neighbour, Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC), compared to the robust growth at Oakland International Airport (OAK) can be explained by traditional economic means. It also suggests that in a multi-airport region where each airport is somewhat specialised, an individual airport’s over- or underperformance relative to its neighbours is more likely to be a function of economic geography than of any airport’s rate-setting practices. If this conclusion holds true for other US airports, it emphasises the ability of airports to create capital plans and set rates and charges to make long-term investments in organic air traffic growth, ensuring that new entrant airlines have sufficient facilities to begin service and that existing airlines have sufficient capacity to grow.
Keywords: costs; recovery; rates; charges; economics; recession
Bucking the trend: How Keflavik International Airport advanced its expansion programme during a time of historic aviation disruption
Guðmundur Daði Rúnarsson

This paper discusses the topic of how Keflavik International Airport (KEF) in Iceland continued its programme of airport and terminal expansion to better serve its customers despite the difficulties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic affecting air travel. The situation, which decreased passenger numbers from an all-time high to an all-time low in a matter of days, did not stop Isavia, the airport operator, moving forward with long-planned expansion at KEF. Isavia optimised its expansion plans, revisited environmental plans and enhanced its operation readiness while creating local jobs. The paper describes how KEF continued its plans in the difficult pandemic period.
Keywords: Isavia; Iceland; Keflavik; Keflavik International Airport; KEF; COVID-19; pandemic; expansion; master plan; passengers; airlines; Icelandair; play
How Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is using modular construction to reduce development costs and timelines
Mohamed Charkas and Matt Needham

Construction is one of the biggest challenges facing airports. Not only can construction negatively affect the airport experience for millions of passengers, it also can severely hamper airport operations and revenue. Yet, until recently, nearly allairport construction was performed in a similar fashion with whole sections of airports being shut down for months — often years — to build and/or renovate space from scratch. Modular construction represents a radical departure from this conventional building process. By constructing whole sections of a building off-site or landside, modular construction can dramatically minimise disruptions to airport operations and drive costs down by opening labour markets to expanded pools of talent. This paper will examine how modular construction has evolved, how it is currently being used in the renovation of Dallas Fort Worth International Airport’s Pier A and C expansion and how it could revolutionise amenity design and concession leasing.
Keywords: modular construction; airport design; building flexibility; future proofing; operational efficiencies; passenger experience
Digital transformation: An analysis of the current state within Europe’s top five digital airports
Lucia Dini, Arne Schulke and Christoph Klingenberg

This paper showcases the current stage of implementation of various selected digital transformation initiatives at the top five European airports in this regard. Applying a recent theoretical framework (technology adoption framework for airports [TAFA]), the overall current level of technology adoption projects in various stages of implementation at these airports is analysed. The study’s approach is based on qualitative data which was collected through interviews with airport representatives and industry experts as well as from publicly available sources. The study shows that the targeted airports understand digital transformation as the process of enhancing their passenger experience and their cost base via improved service quality and operational efficiency. The findings reveal that Europe’s top five airports currently share the characteristics of Airport 3.0 and that they are progressively beginning solutions based on Industry 4.0 technologies. The outlook on current trial and pre-trial technologies shows a common trend of transformation towards Airport 4.0. There is, however, no common approach applied to this that would be coordinated either by ACI, ICAO or even IATA, leaving a patchwork of isolated technology solutions with widely divergent user experiences to be expected. In the nearer future, airports are likely to remain technological islands with no common approach to a seamless integration between them and, ideally, also between airlines and other transport providers to improve travellers’ physical and digital journey. The study can serve as a guideline for airport managers and will support their decision-making processes by providing information on the strategies taken by the top five European airports.
Keywords: digital transformation; industry 4.0; airports; technology adoption; innovation

Volume 17 Number 3

Editorial
Simon Beckett, Publisher
Practical lessons from implementing a data-driven approach to passenger flow optimisation and airport capacity management
Daver Malik, Deputy Aviation Director (Assistant Chief Information Officer), Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

While airports have traditionally relied upon historical passenger traffic to plan for future operations, that paradigm is fast changing. Stakeholders, business partners and service providers all need insights into expected passenger activity in advance to better plan and support operations. This paper shares the innovative approach that Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) adopted to create a data-driven picture of passenger activity and utilisation of terminal facilities as part of its digital transformation initiative. It shows practical ways to take advantage of existing investments and data sources to create an end-to-end operating picture of the airport. This approach allows airports to quantify, with data, how ‘busy’ each passenger touchpoint is and how that provides a direct way to assess and improve passenger flow within their facilities. The applied methodology allows the airport to understand and maximise utilisation of its terminal square footage capacity and have a clearer picture of where and when congestion occurs. More importantly, the paper provides guidance on how to ‘quantify’ what that congestion means with data, something that many airports struggle with. With this approach, airports can create a detailed data-driven picture of their environments with the technology infrastructure they already have. Firmly rooted in advanced data analytics and modelling, the paper also illustrates how, by sharing detailed passenger demand data, PHX is empowering its business partners to proactively plan and improve service levels.
Keywords: digital transformation; data; analytics; passenger flow; optimisation; capacity
Helsinki Airport’s development programme: Expanding an airport under one roof
Timo Järvelä, Vice President, Passenger Experience and Processes and Martti Nurminen, Project Director, Helsinki Airport, Finavia

Finavia's ten-year Helsinki Airport Development Programme is about to be finalised in 2023. The major extension will allow the airport to serve 30 million passengers annually. How has the EUR1bn programme been managed so as to expand the terminal under one roof while functioning continuously? Models such as Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) and Operational Readiness and Airport Transfer (ORAT) were implemented to successfully manage the various projects. This paper shares Finavia's insights of using the chosen models in managing a large extension programme at the Helsinki Airport.
Keywords: airport; development; Helsinki Airport; process; management
ESG and airports: The benefits and risks of ESG reporting for US airports
David Y. Bannard, Attorney at Law, Kaplan Kirsch Rockwell

The subject of ESG — environmental, social and governance — disclosure and how airports are responding to the issues presented by these factors has become of great interest in the last few years. This paper will help familiarise airport managers and others with the concepts behind ESG and what these factors mean at an airport; discuss the reasons why an airport might want to provide ESG guidance to a wider audience; and review the potential risks and liabilities associated with ESG reporting, including a review of the application of US securities laws to disclosure regarding ESG, either formally through an official statement in connection with an issuance of bonds or less formally through an ESG report or by other means. ESG reporting has been driven, in large part, by the growth of funds and other investors who are seeking to invest primarily in securities issued to finance sustainable infrastructure and/or in entities that are working to achieve socially driven goals. It provides a very different scope of review of an airport's operations, focusing primarily on the external impacts of those operations on the environment, on affected communities and on how the entity operates within its regulated environment.
Keywords: ESG; environmental; social; governance; airports; airport management
Leading airport security crews: Special challenges and how to overcome them
Stephanie Walter, Senior Researcher, Zurich State Police, Airport Division/Research and Development, Jan B. Schmutz, Professor of Applied Team Science, University of Zurich, Department of Psychology and Gudela Grote, Professor of Work and Organisational Psychology, ETH Zürich

Working at security checkpoints is a challenge in teamwork. Although most processes are individual tasks — such as baggage screenings and body searches — threat situations require the sudden and effective coordination of all crew members. However, security screening crews are constantly surrounded by passengers, making communication among members difficult. Despite their obvious practical benefits, scientific studies investigating teamwork in the security checkpoint environment are lacking. This paper presents a qualitative study aimed at obtaining insight into what represents good teamwork in the specific setting of the security checkpoint and how it can be promoted. A particular focus is placed on security crew leaders, who often work as both crew members and supervisors, making their tasks particularly challenging. Twenty interviews were conducted, ten with security screeners and ten with crew leaders. Two independent raters transcribed and analysed the interviews using qualitative content analysis. The results revealed six dimensions essential for effective teamwork at the security checkpoint: clear task distribution, communication, mutual support, proactive work behaviour, interpersonal relationships and as few instructions as possible. Additionally, ways in which crew leaders can support teamwork were identified, categorised into individual prerequisites, task-oriented behaviours and relationship-oriented behaviours. The findings should raise awareness of the importance of effective teamwork in the challenging environment of airport security checkpoints and provide recommendations for security professionals and practitioners to promote teamwork, thus making screening crews more effective and safe.
Keywords: airport security screening; teamwork; leadership
Airport management: You cannot manage what you cannot measure
Christiaan Hen, Chief Customer Officer, Assaia

This paper will discuss how current challenges in airport management can be addressed by means of increased operational control. The paper will show that the availability and correct usage of operational data can help solve many of the headaches airport managers face today. The paper starts with an overview of the key developments that led to today's challenges, which will then be described. Next, how real-time and historical data can be used to address these challenges will be presented. Real-world examples will be used to illustrate that this is not just theory, but that tangible results are very much achievable. Finally, the paper will conclude with a summary of best practices that enable and facilitate the adoption of data-driven operations.
Keywords: capacity; sustainability; technology; data; AI; computer vision; safety
New players on the airport market: How can the Solidarity Transport Hub affect global air traffic?
Karolina Pietrzykowska

This paper analyses the concept of creating a new airport in Poland, the Solidarity Transport Hub, which is ultimately to be one of the most important transfer hubs in Europe. The purpose of this paper is to introduce readers to the planned investment and present a discussion of its actual construction and legal status. Among other things, the paper discusses the assumptions of the project, as well as the phases of its implementation, the specifications of the investment and the possibilities of achieving the expected success. In addition, the author extends the discussion of the investment with an analysis of its possible benefits, including the advantages and disadvantages of the plan, and also provides her suggestions for the success of the investment. The paper is a preview of the changes underway in Europe's major hub market.
Keywords: Solidarity Transport Hub; aerotropolis area; Multi-Year Programme; STH Act
(In)security alert! Who is guarding the airport?
Ron Messer, Melville School of Business, Kwantlen Polytechnic University

Security at airports represents a major risk exposure. Poorly paid and underappreciated staff are tasked with controlling critical access points to ground and airside facilities. This paper describes a review of security services at a major North American airport, based on interviews conducted with management and personnel of a contracted service provider. It also evaluates service quality, contract compliance and the business processes involved in the delivery of those services. The review identified significant problems with staff turnover, training and performance; all factors that could lead to compromised security. It also examined the value received for money spent on delivering security services, considering their: (i) economy; (ii) efficiency and (iii) effectiveness. While this review was confined to a single airport, it is expected that the methodology adopted, as well as the problems noted, will apply to other aviation facilities.
Keywords: airport security; contract review; compliance; value for money
ACI world update

Volume 17 Number 2

Editorial
Simon Beckett, Publisher
Future mobility: How sustainability and operational efficiency are mutually dependent
Mario Herger, Technology trend researcher and author and Lars Mosdorf, Düsseldorf Airport, Managing and Labour Director, Düsseldorf Airport

Mobility demand is increasing across all transport modes. To preserve an individual's mobility freedom and avoid mobility sacrifice and pure price increase, stronger intermodal cooperation are key success factors. In this paper, a technology trend researcher and an airport's general manager strive to lift the view towards the future of mobility. They evaluate the question of how the technical equipment will change, how, among other things, a population's mobility habits lead to increasing demand and how this can be served. The two authors believe that seamless processes in between traffic providers and emission free as well as efficient operations are key contributions to the solution. To think mobility beyond each mobility sector is, therefore, a prerequisite. This includes mutually enriching other mobility sectors' ideas, optimised processes and technologies.
Keywords: future mobility; sustainability; efficiency; digital transformation; operational efficiency; mobility providers; seamless mobility; clean mobility; smart mobility
5G mobile networks for airports: Supporting the digital transformation
Nikolaos Papagiannopoulos, Senior Project Manager, IT&T Data Services, Information Technology & Telecommunications, Athens International Airport, Julie Bradford, Real Wireless and Simon Fletcher, Real Wireless

Major international airports are highly complex ecosystems with multiple stakeholders performing a large number of processes, many of them in the crucial path of aircraft, passenger, baggage and cargo handling, in the airside. The role of the airport operators is to orchestrate, synchronise, optimise and facilitate the efficient and effective execution of these processes. In this context, this paper explores and demystifies how the new advancements in 5G mobile networks can help airports succeed and understand the benefits that such technology might bring to the industry and what steps and investments need to be made to realise the full potential. The paper captures lessons learned from a 5G testbed deployed at Athens International Airport as part of the European Commission Horizon 2020 project, 5G-TOURS. It includes a description of new services and applications for airports that advanced wireless connectivity can provide. A quantitative analysis is provided of the potential benefits that an airport like Athens can expect to see from these new services. These are presented in terms of direct operational benefits and wider socio-economic benefits. Furthermore, the various strategies that an airport operator might adopt for the management, delivery and installation of wireless infrastructure in their specific setting are described and indicative costings in the example setting of Athens are provided. Overall, using Athens International Airport as a case study, the aim is to illustrate the pros and cons of various wireless strategies and considerations that airport operators need to make when selecting the best way forward for their business.
Keywords: 5G; wireless; airports; mobile network; network sharing; neutral host; business
Canada geese flight patterns in the vicinity of an aerodrome: Insights and management Implications
Marta Giordano, Ornithologist, French Civil Aviation Technical Centre (STAC) and Frederic Jiguet, Professor, French Museum of Natural History

Wildlife on and in the surroundings of an aerodrome pose a potential hazard for flight safety. Canada geese (Branta canadensis) represent a substantial risk for aircraft, due to their size and flocking behaviour. A group of 51 Canada geese were caught and neck-collared at two moult sites in the vicinity of Paris-Le Bourget airport. Six individuals were also GPS tagged. Bird movements were monitored between July 2019 and June 2021. The flight patterns and phenology, as well as the dispersion pattern of these birds, were investigated. Flights represented only about 1 per cent of geese daily activity. Geese spent most of their time on the ground in a 10km radius area around the capture sites. More than half of the flights outside the capture sites took place at the end of the day, between 6pm and 8pm. These flights were performed on average at less than 50m above the ground, and only less than 1 per cent of them crossed Paris-Le Bourget airport airspace. The finding of this study can be of interest to airport operators and regulators for the development of a management plan to help to reduce birdstrike risk to aircraft.
Keywords: Canada geese; birdstrike; risk mitigation; spatial data; GPS tag; airport
Lessons learned from 11th September, 2001 (9/11): A comparison of aviation security and health crisis response
Nathalie Herbelles, Senior Director, Airports Council International (ACI) World, and Alicia Lawrence, Senior Consultant, Arup

The terrorist attacks of 11th September, 2001 (9/11) triggered significant changes in the way aviation security is implemented all over the world. Despite many lessons learned in the industry, the response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been the same as those prompted by 9/11 — the imposition of prescribed, disproportionate to risk, one-size-fits-all measures with adverse impacts on operations. Taking the learning from a major world crisis such as 9/11 has shown how an intelligence-driven, risk-based, outcome-focused regulatory model enables the industry to determine how a known threat informed by intelligence might manifest in terms of likelihood and consequence that is unique to every airport. Together, ACI and Arup have identified the top ten lessons learnt from the security experience that can be directly applied to manage health risks in aviation. The paper explores the lessons learned for airports (recommendations 1–5) before identifying those learned for regulators (recommendations 6–10).
Keywords: security; health; airports; regulators; risk-based
Preventive wildlife strike strategy implemented at the airports operated by Fraport Greece during the COVID-19 pandemic
Dionysios Ntampakis, Wildlife Hazard Manager, Dimitrios Monogios, Training Manager, Marianna Moira, Wildlife Hazard Management Officer and Athanasios Tsiratzidis, Wildlife Control Supervisor, Fraport Greece

Any collision between wildlife (including birds) with an aircraft is known as a wildlife strike. Most of the time such a strike has no operational impact but occasionally it could result in delays because of a technical check or even cause damage to aircraft. The COVID-19 pandemic severely affected Europe's transport sector. Air connectivity collapsed worldwide and the demand on the airports operated by Fraport Greece (FG) decreased significantly during the pandemic years (2020–21). With less air traffic and more stay-home orders, a variety of bird species were attracted to the green, quieter areas of the airports. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued warnings concerning the increased presence of wildlife hazards in European airports. This case study aims to communicate to the aviation industry the wildlife strike prevention strategy implemented at the airports operated by FG during the pandemic years. The fundamentals of wildlife management, airport ecology, flight safety and sustainability are presented in a structured way to provide the reader with many relevant messages. The management implications, together with the best practices of this preventive wildlife strike strategy, are discussed for their possible wider use in the aviation industry.
Keywords: COVID-19; aviation; airport; wildlife strike; flight safety; sustainability
Leveraging sentiment analysis as a predictor of risk in community engagement
Tony Diana, Division Manager, Outreach (ANG-A6), Office of NextGen Stakeholder Collaboration and Messaging, Federal Aviation Administration

This study proposes a methodology based on sentiment analysis to compute an ‘engagement risk priority number’ or ERPN. The ERPN is a calculation designed to help airport management rank risks in community engagement and identify outreach strategies to airport stakeholders. The ERPN is based on three components of sentiment analysis (polarity, surprise, and subjectivity of residents' sentiments and opinions) that may predict potential risks to programme implementation and airport development. The methodology leverages the latest developments in natural language processing, specifically transformers, and compares the outcomes of these newer models with those of more traditional lexicon-based algorithms.
Keywords: airport community engagement; natural language processing; sentiment analysis; risk assessment
Flight departure delay forecasting
Juan Gerardo Muros Anguita, International Graduate School, Universidad de Granada and Oscar Díaz Olariaga, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universidad Santo Tomás

The most accurate methods to predict delays have become essential to mitigate their generation and proliferation (and prevent their spread to other airports in the network). Given that both the delay time dependence function and the input variables on which it depends are not fully known, the objective of this research is to predict the delays in the departure of scheduled commercial flights through a methodology that uses predictive tools based on machine learning/deep learning (ML/DL), with supervised training in regression, based on the available flight datasets. The novel contribution of this work is, first, to make a comparison of the predictions in terms of means and statistical variance of the different ML/DL models implemented (ten in total) and, secondly, to determine the coefficients of the importance of the features or flight attributes. Using ML methods known as permutation importance, it is possible to rank the importance of flight attributes by their influence in determining the delay time and reduce the problem of selecting the most important flight attributes. The data for the analysis was obtained from the Colombian airport system for the year 2018. From the results obtained, it is worth mentioning that the model that presents the best performance is the Ensemble, or combination method of Random Forest Regressor models, configured with 2,000 trees within the forest, with an acceptable prediction range measured with the root-mean-square-error (RMSE) metric of 16 to 33 minutes (prediction of time of the flight departure delay) depending on the scenario analysed.
Keywords: flight delay prediction; air traffic; airport; air transport; aviation
ACI update

Volume 17 Number 1

Editorial
Simon Beckett, Publisher
eVTOLS and vertiports: Operations and infrastructure for a new and sustainable way to fly
Kevin E. Cox, Chief Executive Officer, Ferrovial Vertiports

The world is on the cusp of a zero-carbon revolution in urban mobility. Within a few years, electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOLs) and vertiports will be operational across the globe. This is new, uncharted territory which needs some guidelines to help airport operators understand the commercial impetus behind vertiport development, and what eVTOL operators believe this new market needs. In particular, airports will want to know how they can connect to, and benefit from, urban air mobility. This paper describes the three main business models that eVTOL operators are working towards. It explains why vertiport designers must accommodate all those approaches and more. It then goes into some detail describing the factors that influence the selection and development of a vertiport location, together with the operational and regulatory requirements. This paper emphasises the importance of working with local communities because a vertiport network can only be effective if it is embedded in the community. Throughout the paper, there is a particular emphasis on the role that airport operators can play in helping to build this new industry. It shows how they can tap into this market to improve their own connectivity, ease local congestion and potentially open up routes to new groups of passengers.
Keywords: eVTOL, vertiport, connectivity, urban air mobility (UAM) sustainability, aviation
Getting more out of less: Capacity management for existing airport terminals
Tim Hudson, Principal, Global Practice Area Leader — Aviation, Gensler

In the arena of airport terminal design, operators and architects are faced with how to capitalise on opportunities to create additional operational space where none exists. The assumption that capacity challenges are solved by expansion or building new exterior areas can be costly and disrupt passenger efficiencies. By identifying underutilised or functional areas that can be repurposed, existing terminal capacity can be expanded within the current footprint, thus delivering a higher level of passenger experience, and extending the life of existing facilities. This paper examines current capacity issues airports are encountering, provides examples of what they are doing to solve the problem and offers practical solutions to increase passenger levels within existing terminals, so they can properly prepare for the future.
Keywords: capacity management, repurposing terminal facilities, technology solutions, managing passenger traffic, preparing for the future
Narita Airport’s journey for establishing an end-to-end biometric passenger experience
Hideharu Miyamoto, Executive Director, Executive Divisional Director, Corporate Planning Division, Narita International Airport Corporation (NAA)

The paper shares the experience, challenges and efforts to introduce expedited pre-boarding passenger at Narita Airport through digital technology under the impact of COVID-19. The digitalised ‘Fast Travel’ processing enables more stringent ID checks with consistency, improved efficiency and customer experience using biometric and automation technology to achieve the following improvements in customer experience triggered by a survey conducted by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The paper also covers pending issues, such as the lack of stress testing and identification of issues that require improvement to serve a larger mass traffic volume as cross-border travel restarts around the world. It is hoped that the contents of the paper may contribute to inspire airports and stakeholders around the world to jointly establish a digitalised pre-boarding procedure that is globally interoperable with a standardised processing and synchronisation of datasets that is protected by a holistic security framework.
Keywords: automation, boarding, biometric, customer experience, digital, passenger process
From vision to reality: Dallas Fort Worth Airport’s Integrated Operations Center
Steve Roque, Assistant Vice President, Integrated Operations Center and Lance Bodine, Vice President, Integrated Operations Center, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and Irene Clark

In 2017, after several high-profile incidents at domestic airports, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and Transportation Security Administration Administrator, emphasised the need for integrated facilities, staffed by teams from both internal and external stakeholders, to work collaboratively on day-to-day operations, incidents and events. Consideration for the complexity of the air travel landscape and the opportunities presented with technological advances, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) executive leadership developed a strategic initiative to create such a capability. In April of 2021, DFW’s Integrated Operations Center (IOC) opened its doors. What it took to get from concept to reality is the focus of this paper. Lessons were learned along the way related to several factors, such as managing an operational and cultural change, balancing the human element with the technological and pivoting from an operational model based on reacting to events and situations to a model that is more predictive in nature.
Keywords: safe and secure, airports, integrated, DFW Airport
Keeping the heart and soul of America’s best airport
Vince Granato, Chief Projects Officer, Port of Portland and Sharron Van Der Meulen, Managing Partner, ZGF

How do you improve an airport so beloved that passengers write poems and songs about it? Consistently hailed as ‘America’s Best Airport’, Portland International Airport is increasing capacity by 65 per cent to accommodate 35m passengers over the next two decades. A series of transformative projects will consolidate 80 years of expansion and renovation into one floorplate while doubling the main terminal’s footprint to deliver more fun, more food and more flow. Amid this future growth and a current pandemic, learn how PDX is maintaining its uniquely curated local character cherished by both passengers and employees. This paper describes how to establish a distinct regional identity via passenger journey mapping, the integration of local, sustainable materials to create a sense of place while also reducing carbon footprint, how to use daylight, biophilia and sightlines as well as local amenities to reduce traveller stress, planning and design choices that establish an equitable passenger journey for all and engineering and construction considerations to minimise passenger disruption while keeping the airport fully operational.
Keywords: change management, construction, airport growth, aviation design, best practices
Airports and the rise of eVTOL
Beth Bernitt, Senior Vice President and Co-Leader, Global eVTOL Initiative, AECOM, et al.

A new form of aircraft — electric Vertical Take-off and Landing (eVTOL) — holds the potential to upend the transportation industry. Some eVTOLs are crosses between a helicopter and a traditional aeroplane, combining the vertical take-off of helicopters with the horizontal flight of aeroplanes. Others take on a more drone-like appearance. They are the next wave in aviation innovation and are expected to be flying as soon as 2025. As with any new and evolving industry, there are a myriad of questions to be answered. Here we discuss the advent of the eVTOL industry, why airports should be paying attention, and the impacts this new form of transportation may have on airports and their functions, including eVTOL-specific energy, aviation, regulation, emergency and infrastructure needs.
Keywords: eVTOL, energy, infrastructure, regulation, commercial, aviation, emergency
Enhancing operational efficiencies by minimising the taxiing time of arriving aircraft at IGIA, New Delhi
Rajib Das, Research Scholar and Shibnath Banerjee, Professor, Department of Management, Brainware University and Pijus Kanti Bhuin, Secretary, Vyasadeva Educational and Charitable Trust

Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) has been experiencing a ground delay programme for decades, resulting in huge cost to all the concerned stakeholders. Examining the present operating time of arriving aircraft, it was found that, in contrast to other international airports, DEL suffers from additional fuel costs, environmental degradation, and loss of passengers’ precious time. The tabulated data collected between September 2020 and June 2022 reveals that an average of more than 75 per cent of arriving aircraft takes longer than the 4 to 5 minutes achieved at other international airports. The data analysis reveals that, despite capacity enhancement initiatives, taxiing time for arriving commercial flights at DEL is significantly higher than the internationally set benchmark. This paper investigates the root cause of the problem and recommends short-term as well as long-term solutions.
Keywords: airports, ground delay programme, DEL, taxiing delay, optimisation of taxiing time
ACI update