Airports

Bengaluru, November 22, 2021: Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL),operator of Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru(BLR Airport)has become the first Airport in South Asia to commission a Rosenbauer Tactical Simulator,further strengthening its firefighting capabilities. With this simulator, firefighters can train in a realistic environment, master the tactical use of Rosenbauer Panther trucks as well as operate High Reach Extendable Turrets(HRET) for extreme aircraft fire emergencies. The state-of-the-art facility will be open for firefighters from other airports (in India and abroad), State Fire Departments and Defence Forces. The simulator provides Incident Commanders,Crew Commanders and Lead Firefighters an opportunity to gain experience in the tactical use of CFTs through turret control and application of firefighting agents, command and control, vehicle operation and basic driving and positioning skills. The simulator has a cockpit that matches every detail of the Rosenbauer fire truck, providing a realistic experience in operation of CFTs, including all operating controls, from the steering wheel to turret control, projected through multiple 55″ HD screens. Firefighters can be prepared for all kinds of aircraft related emergencies as multiple scenarios can be customised. Simulator training increases professional competency of firefighters as the scenarios are realistic and sessions can be replayed for effective evaluation. To ensure the safety and security of all stakeholders, including passengers and airlines, BIAL has added four advanced Rosenbauer CFTs to its fleet. Two Rosenbauer Panther 6×6 trucks and two Rosenbauer Panther 8×8 trucks,including two with HRETs were commissioned recently, taking the overall number of CFTs in its fleet to eight.BLR Airport is the only airport in India to commission these hi-tech trucks with HRETs. “At BLR Airport, our top priority is to maintain the highest standards of safety and with the Rosenbauer CFTs, we are well-equipped to efficiently handle difficult fire emergencies. We believe in training our teams, equipping them with advanced tools and modern technology, providing them with hands-on experience and keeping them ready to contain any possible emergencies. The tactical simulator will support in strengthening our firefighting capabilities even further,” said Jayaraj Shanmugam, Chief Operating Officer, BIAL.

New Delhi, 11th October 2021: Jaipur International Airport handed over to Adani Jaipur International Airport Limited (“AJIAL”), at 00:00 hours on 11th October 2021 (midnight of 10.10.2021) for Operations, Management and Development through Public Private Partnership mode for a lease period of 50 years. Through an international competitive bidding process, AEL had emerged as a successful bidder for the Jaipur International Airport and a Concession Agreement was signed by Airports Authority of India with AJIAL on 19th January 2021. As per the terms of the Concession Agreement, AJIAL shall be paying Airports Authority of India, a monthly concession fee of Rs.174 per embarking and disembarking domestic passenger. In case of international passengers, the concession fee shall be Rs.348 per embarking and disembarking passenger.

GREEN AIRPORT Driving sustainability is the key to future of Indian airports By Ashutosh Shukla In the globalised world, air travel is the single-most important medium for world connectivity, fostering global trade, transport, and travel. While it is true that the recent unprecedented challenges have stalled aviation sector for a considerable period, the world economies are already finding innovative ways to resume flying. As the countries round the world progress into more evolved economies, air travel will be more dynamic and entail more complexities. There will be more people travelling than ever before. More complex models of flight travel will come into play. As increasing travel cost for the long-term may not be a pro-business solution, aviation companies will look for more cost-effective models of facilitating air travels while making their services more accessible for the masses. While the sector and the world navigate through the current challenge, there’s an even bigger problem staring at us in the form of climate change. Therefore, like all sectors, sustainability is one of the most important aspects of the future of aviation sector. The global aviation industry produces 2 per cent of all human induced carbon dioxide emissions in the world, while it amounts to 12 per cent of CO2 emissions from all transport sectors. Contrary to popular perception, it is not the airplanes that are so much a cause for concern. Today, jet aircrafts are 80 per cent more efficient than the first jets of 1960. There has been good success in identification of sustainable aviation fuels. With 82 per cent occupancy, which is greater than other modes of transport of the world, the latest airplanes use less than 3 litres of jet fuel per 100 passenger kilometers. The greater challenge lies in the airports itself. Being huge energy users, large airports can daily consume equivalent electricity and thermal energy as that of a small city of 100,000 people. Amidst growing complexities and footfalls of air travel, it’s the airports which have to undertake a major transformation not only to achieve sustainability objectives. Green Initiatives at the Indian Airports: Apart from various private airports in India which has been recognized by global bodies for their green initiatives, there have been significant measures initiated by Airport Authority of India (AAI), which achieved Airport Carbon Accreditation “Level-2: Reduction” certificates from ACI for four of its Airports last year. Furthermore, AAI has implemented several other measures, including energy audits, invested in solar power plant installations, LED light installations, so on and so forth, across various airports. However, to progress towards the airports of the future, it is essential that India works towards Airport 4.0. Energy utilization and building in operational efficiencies as two of the most important factors towards sustainability. The airports of today need to adopt advance technologies, automation, and big data for a more integrated, energy efficient and connected ecosystems while developing more decarbonized, sustainable and decentralized infrastructure. While Indian airports are moving towards green energy, the integration of microgrids would be a major move in bringing about the transformation. While relatively new to the aviation sector, microgrids have been tremendously successful in data centers, major healthcare facilities, and commercial buildings. Armed with self-contained electrical networks, microgrids empower airports on-site power management capabilities. The solution can be integrated with linear, conventional sources of power as well as with more dynamic renewable energy sources. Backed by distributed energy resources management capabilities, microgrids can optimize energy utilization and reduce energy wastage, especially for renewable energy sources with activating on-site storage facilities. Furthermore, they employ advance features to balance the supply and demand and ensure power continuity during outages, thereby providing cost saving and energy security. Resource to Airport 4.0: By investing into extensive digitization of the entire airport value chain and infrastructure management, Airport 4.0 will take the Indian aviation sector towards greater resource efficiency while taking it closer to larger sustainability objectives such as carbon neutrality in the coming decades. This can be made a reality by leveraging IoT, AI and data analytics and strengthening airports with end-to-end digital solutions. In the decades to follow, sustainability will become increasingly crucial and leveraging new age technologies will be increasingly essential. The pandemic has exposed the vulnerabilities of the aviation sector. It has only put spotlight on the urgency to adopt automation and digitalisation of the airport management and operations. For the future of Indian airports, the transformation must begin now, and en-route to Airport 4.0, achieving sustainability will be the key for a successful transformation. (The feature is written by Mr. Ashutosh Shukla, Director-Transportation & Mobility at SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC India. Views presented are personal.)

17th Sept, 2021, New Delhi As the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) surpasses 30,000 vaccine doses administered at the Airport recently, a clear trend has emerged: more and more foreign travelers are making vaccination a part of their visit to San Francisco. Known as “vaccine tourism,” this concept represents the fastest-growing category of visitors to the SFO Medical Clinic, where the free Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine is administered. At present, 80% of new vaccine appointments at SFO are coming from non-US citizens, and over 1,000 doses have already been administered to visitors from 58 countries around the world. “This trend truly represents a win-win situation for all,” said Airport Director Ivar C. Satero. “It ensures that vaccines doses do not go unused by making them available to those who may have trouble accessing it in their home country. It also stimulates travel and visitor spending for the Bay Area, and – most importantly – it helps protect against community spread of the virus. My thanks go out to the entire team for making this program a reality.” Since late May, the SFO Medical Clinic, located pre-security in the International Terminal, has been offering free single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccines on an appointment basis. For more information, please visit:flysfo.com/travel-well/vaccination-site-sfo. SFO first offered vaccines onsite in February, when it partnered with the County of San Mateo to provide vaccines to health care workers and County residents over 65. The Airport converted one of its multi-level garages to serve as a drive-through vaccination facility. Over 26,500 doses were administered through this program. SFO also launched a vaccination clinic in early May, located in the International Terminal, which offered doses to airport workers, local residents, and travelers. This program was administered through a partnership with Safeway and administered almost 2,200 doses.

New Delhi, 02nd September 2021: M. Suresh has taken over the charge of Member (Air Navigation Services) at Airports Authority of India on 02ndSeptember 2021.Prior to this assignment, Shri Suresh was holding the charge of post of Executive Director (Aviation Safety) at Corporate Headquarters of AAI and discharging the strategic function of ensuring safety in aerodrome operation and air navigations services and developing &maintaining a safety management policy of AAI. Shri Suresh is an AirNavigation Service technical expert and has vast experience in planning, provision, operation & maintenance of CNS facilities, airport system facilities & information technology facilities at airports in India. He has been instrumental in the implementation of NOCAS Version-2, the Building Height Clearance Software for the public, SKY REV 360, NIC CPPP Training Program, e-Office deployment and the implementation of the Biometric Access Control project in AAI and many such initiatives. He has a rich experience of 25 years in AAI holding the posts of Airport Director for Madurai, Jammu and Goa Airport. He also held the posts of General Manager (Airport Licensing) and General Manager (IT) at CHQ. During this assignment, he was responsible for licensing of new airports and renewal of license of existing operational airportsas well ushering the development and usage of IT platforms in AAI. He also worked as Regional Executive Director (North East Region) and was responsible for planning, design of modern state-of-the-art environment-friendly airport terminals and airside infrastructure like runways, apron and their financial evaluation, regulatory clearances, tendering & award processes, etc. M. Suresh is an Engineering Graduate in Electronics and Communication with a Master of Business Administration (HR). He also holds an International Airport Professional – IAP degree accorded by Airports Council International and International Civil Aviation Organization.

Munich – August 10, 2021 Even in times of the pandemic, Munich Airport remains at the top of the European rankings: At the annual “World Airport Awards” of the London-based aviation research institute Skytrax, the Bavarian hub airport was once again awarded the title of “Best Airport in Europe” on the basis of a passenger survey. In the global ranking, Munich achieved an outstanding sixth place. Jost Lammers, CEO of Munich Airport, is delighted that passengers around the world continue to express their confidence in the airport even in times of the pandemic: “This enormous appreciation encourages us to manage the current difficult situation and is at the same time a great motivation to strive to ensure that our airport can soon regain a top position among hub airports in terms of passenger volume as well. In this year’s awards, Doha Hamad Airport was honored as the world’s best airport, followed by Tokyo Haneda Airport in second place and Singapore Changi in third place. The World Airport Awards were the result of a global survey of passengers from more than 100 countries conducted between August 2020 and July 2021. For Munich Airport, the accolade continues a remarkable series: the airport has been recognized as “Best Airport in Europe” for the 14th time in the last 16 years.

Stanlow, 4th August 2021: Essar Oil (UK) Limited, which owns and operates the Stanlow Manufacturing Complex in Ellesmere Port,today announced it has begun supplying jet fuel directly to airlines at Cardiff Airport, with new deals having already been secured with various carriers that operate flights from the facility. With these agreements Essar aviation fuel business has direct supply arrangements now in place with carriers at five major airports across the UK – Manchester, Birmingham, London Stansted, Leeds-Bradford and Cardiff. Adam Brayne, Aviation &Business Development Managerat Essar,commented, “Adding Cardiff Airport to our UK network is a further chapter in our growth story, as Essar continues to support majorairlines through what we hope will be a recovery period for the sector. We look forward to a successfulpartnership with the airport and are delighted to have already secured direct business with a number of key airline customers there.” David Walters, Chief Financial Officer of Cardiff Airport, added: “We have been working hard to ensure suitable choice is available to our airline partners at Cardiff Airport, and we are very pleased that Essar has agreed to work with us as a new long-term fuel partner. We really look forward to working closely with the company, as we welcome more flights and airlines back to Cardiff.”

Bengaluru, July 02, 2021: Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (KIAB/ BLR Airport) has been inducted into the prestigious Airports Council International (ACI) Director General’s Roll of Excellence for the year 2020 for consistently delivering superior customer service. Check the link here for the details: https://bit.ly/3jIpAKe. Instituted in the year 2011, the Roll of Excellence recognises airports, which in the opinion of the passengers, have demonstrated strong commitment towards service quality. Since 2011, 58 airports have been inducted. In a letter to Hari Marar, MD & CEO, Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), Luis Felipe de Oliveira, Director General, ACI World wrote: “I am delighted to announce that Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru has been chosen by its passengers to join the Airports Council International (ACI) Director General’s Roll of Excellence. I am confident that you will continue to be a role model for airport service quality excellence and work with us to raise the bar in service standards and best practices within the industry.” “BLR Airport is honored to be inducted into the ACI Director General’s Roll of Excellence. I thank our passengers for the trust and confidence that they’ve in BLR Airport. I would like to dedicate this recognition to the BLR Airport community, who came together to ensure seamless operations during these challenging times,” said Mr. Hari Marar, MD & CEO, BIAL. BLR Airport has won multiple ACI Airport Service Quality awards over a five-year period during the past 10 years and is one of only six airports worldwide that will receive the recognition this year. Image Courtesy:HOK/Google Images)