The article dwells upon how facility management is integral to the functioning of airports and the travel ecosystem especially during the ongoing pandemic.
*By Rohit Kaul
Safety and security are primary concerns that drive individual needs and determine their behavior and preferences, especially when they are in public spaces. This engages the use of sensory stimuli in determining the quality of the place through markers including hygiene, comfort, ease, security, and accessibility among others. The current scenario has reiterated the dire need for immaculate, sanitized spaces. Airports must be equipped to deliver this need with utmost caution as they are the most frequented spaces, estimated at an annual average of 220 million travelers in India (as per CAPA report 2021).
Airport infrastructure entails extensive areas ranging from the immediately visible terminals, runways, housing areas, ATC, Cargo Complex, ARFF-Fire stations, etc. Each area needs to be maintained and optimized to empower greater efficiency and render ease of access to individuals. Owing to their large expanse and the increasing density of passengers, airports require strategic and streamlined services that target each area to provide effective solutions. These services fall under the ambit of Integrated Facilities Management (IFM).
“The IFM industry extends a plethora of services, to uphold the safety of passengers, airports, and airlines, thereby providing a premium experience. The suite of solutions deployed through facility management assimilates the power of new and emerging technologies including the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud, big data and analytics”.
IFM is pivotal to the functioning of airports and in ensuring the highest quality standards towards their operation. It plays a crucial role in creating an ecosystem that delivers end-to-end solutions in maintaining, transforming, and executing functions within and outside airports. The IFM industry extends a plethora of services, to uphold the safety of passengers, airports, and airlines, thereby providing a premium experience. The suite of solutions deployed through facility management assimilates the power of new and emerging technologies including the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud, big data and analytics. These disruptive technologies and streamlined services bolster airport operations and optimize their functioning. Among the varied imperative services undertaken by IFM, some of the critical ones include:
Soft Services
Since the airport is a transit point for millions of people, maintaining safety and hygiene is of paramount importance. Soft services are an extremely important facet of facility maintenance at airports, encompassing housekeeping, landscaping, waste management, pest control, security, and business support services. Facility management has successfully integrated technology to deliver these soft services making them more efficient. At airports, some areas such as the runways, roads, kiosks, etc. need thorough cleaning and frequent auditing to ensure all is in place.
Technical Services
The modern airport environment is equipped with a stack of technical assets that are often controlled behind walls and ceilings. While these are away from our direct line of vision, they have a fundamental impact on the flyers and their travel experience. IFMs play an important role in maintaining and ensuring the proper functioning of these technical assets. Some of these include maintenance of DGs and transformers, HVAC systems, fire and safety systems, surveillance systems, WTPs and STPs, lighting systems, etc. While the provision of 100% uptime is one of the primary responsibilities of an FM, optimizing performance and conducting frequent audits to ascertain the ageing of the assets are as important.
Digital Services
With the evolution of new and emerging technologies, airports have integrated advanced technology to maintain their spaces with data-centricity. The system includes customer-facing technology such as ticketing systems, feedback systems, customer assistance, vending machines, etc., and operations supporting technology such as NFCs, smart meters, sensor-based lighting/tap systems, inventory management tools, etc. These solutions harness the power of data and analytical tools that are used to track and monitor the performance of people and assets.
Risk Management
Airport terminals maintain stringent standards of upholding the safety and security of passengers. IFMs handle the planning, preparation, and execution responses for situations of crises and emergencies, threats, etc. These also include several aspects such as EHS (environment, health, and safety), compliance (adherence to statutory norms and laws for buildings, food, fire and safety, labour, among others), and ESG (environment, social, and governance).
Facility management is one of the most significant pillars that strengthen the round-the-clock operations of airports. Amidst diverse and critical responsibilities with exhaustive protocols and blueprints of aviation operations, the services rendered by the industry are indispensable to the streamlined and efficient functioning of airports. The better the Facility Management teams, the better the experience at an airport.
(The writer is Head of Operations for North Region at Embassy Services Private Limited)
Aviation world Online
