Volume 15 (2020-21)

Each volume of Journal of Airport Management consists of four 100-page issues published in both print and online.

The Articles published in Volume 15 include:

Volume 15 Number 4

Editorial
Simon Beckett, Publisher
Practice paper
Microgrids: Opportunities and challenges for US airports
Steven Osit, Partner and Sarah Keane, Partner, Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell

It is currently standard practice for airports in the United States and around the world to depend largely on their local electric utility for most day-to-day power needs, while having on-site back-up generation that can run essential operations during power outages or other emergencies. But recent cost declines and technology advances have made it possible for airports to install full microgrids, capable of supplying most or all of their basic power needs. While a microgrid can offer significant resiliency, cost and local control benefits for an airport, the sponsor needs to weigh many interrelated operational, legal and financial considerations to ensure a successful microgrid project and avoid unintended regulatory consequences. Among key areas to consider are structuring project governance and delivery, funding options, facility siting and potential environmental review, revenue use and diversion, and risks of utility regulation.
Keywords: power generation, renewable energy, microgrid, resiliency, cost savings
Case studies
Innovation in Brazil: A workshop for developing airport security programmes
Jackson Wellington De Jesus Pinheiro, Specialist in Civil Aviation Regulation and Michelle Salgado Ferreira Arcúrio, Specialist in Civil Aviation Regulation, National Civil Aviation Agency, Brazil

As a signatory to the International Civil Aviation Convention, Brazil must comply with the guidelines laid out by the International Civil Aviation Organization. This includes ensuring that all aerodromes in the country establish, implement and maintain an airport security programme. Historically, the process for certifying such security programmes was not only long-winded, but also led to a low approval rate. In 2019, however, representatives from the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil collaborated with airport operators to establish a workshop to streamline this process. This article describes the various ways in which this endeavour has been a resounding success.
Keywords: airport security programme, aviation security, workshop, innovation, public sector
The airport relevance index: A new tool for advocacy and influence — the case of Toronto Pearson International Airport
Mike Brown, Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Transport Strategy Centre, Imperial College London

Retaining and building social licence is critical to an airport’s success, but getting the attention of elected officials is becoming harder, particularly given the clamour of voices in the pandemic. Built from data that the airport likely already has, the Airport Relevance Index (ARI) is an affordable, quick and effective way of communicating the importance of the airport to politicians at the geographic level that means the most to them: their ward, district or riding. Using a case study of Toronto Pearson International Airport, an ARI is constructed to show how important the airport is to employment, business competitiveness and emissions reduction targets at the local level. Other dimensions can be easily added depending on the circumstances.
Keywords: social licence, post-pandemic recovery, community engagement, policy advocacy
Research papers
Analysing and modelling airport resilience: Robustness, vulnerability and recoverability
Milan Janić, Faculty of Logistics, University of Maribor

Airports have been relatively frequently impacted by various internal and external disruptive events. These have generally affected their operations and consequently their regular/nominal performances. The level of non-affected performances has indicated the resilience or robustness of airports to the impacts of disruptive events. Thanks to the undertaken contingency measures the time of recovering the affected performances to their regular/nominal level has been considered as recoverability, or rapidity. This paper develops a methodology for assessing the resilience of an airport affected by a given large-scale disruptive event. The methodology consists of models of resilience and models of indicators of the airport’s operational, economic, social and environmental performances used as the figures of merit for assessing resilience. The methodology is applied to assessing the resilience of a large European airport (London Heathrow) impacted by a large-scale global external disruptive event — the COVID-19 pandemic — as being specific compared to the others such as bad weather, terrorist threats/attacks, failures of the system components and the industrial actions of air transport industry staff. The results indicate that during both past short-term and future medium-term periods, the inherently mutually interrelated airport performances expressing losses of profits of the particular actors/stakeholders have and are expected to be significantly affected. Those expressing savings in costs/externalities have and are expected to only fragmentary compensate these profit and losses under given conditions.
Keywords: airport, resilience, performances, disruptive events, indicators, methodology
Investigating strategic local placement for an offsite baggage drop facility: The case for Melbourne
Chao Zhang, Luojia Li and Wesley Young, Aerospace Engineering and Aviation, School of Engineering, RMIT University and Busyairah Syd Ali, School of Information Technology, Monash University

Airports by nature are limited in size and capacity which largely has an effect on how they expand to continue meeting the future increasing traffic volume. Decentralisation techniques implemented in airport design present an effective solution that alleviates airport congestion issues which introduces the concept of offsite baggage drop facilities. While conceptually promising, it requires active development and investment to allow this to act as a mainstream solution to capacity restrictions. This study explores the sentiment of passengers residing within Victoria to determine locations in which an offsite baggage drop service could be established for Melbourne Tullamarine Airport. The aim of this study is to identify the suburbs based on postcodes collected from surveys of respondents travelling to Melbourne Tullamarine Airport. Additional characteristics associated with positive sentiment responses to offsite bag drop facilities identified that passengers originating from the City of Melbourne spending around AU$ 20 on transit and travelling no more than 20 minutes represented a 93 per cent rate of adoption. Due to sampling restrictions, the data collected was limited and implies by continuing the process of investigation by approaching a larger population, the findings in this research can be further validated. The proposed method is transferable to any airports or cities.
Keywords: offsite baggage drop, airport, passenger survey, remote check-in
Influence of tower air traffic controller workload and airport layout on airport capacity
Paola Di Mascio, Associate Professor and Riccardo Carrara, Civil Engineer, Department of Civil Building and Environmental Engineering, University of Rome, Luca Frasacco, Air Traffic Control Officer, Eleonora Luciano, Air Traffic Management Engineer and Andrea Ponziani, Head of Airport Enhanced Solutions, ENAV Ente Nazionale Assistenza al Volo-Italian Air Navigation Service Provider via Salaria and Laura Moretti, Researcher, University of Rome

Air traffic control’s aim is to optimise airport capacity, that is, to increase the number of aircraft movements per hour maintaining a limited delay. There are several definitions of capacity, which depend on the considered airport element. This study focused on the development of a method that allows evaluating the impact of tower air traffic controllers’ workload on airport capacity. It adapts a model for the workload of sector controllers designed by Eurocontrol to tower controllers and tests it on a heavily busy international airport. In order to collect controllers’ working times, a campaign on data research has been carried out from which it was possible to extrapolate the hourly percentage of work of the various tower controllers using a fast-time simulation software. By imposing an hourly working threshold on tower air traffic controllers, it was possible to obtain a maximum number of manageable aircraft, which was compared with the airside capacity of the airport. The results show that the maximum traffic manageable from the airside would produce unacceptable workload for tower controllers, highlighting the link between airport capacity and human component.
Keywords: airport capacity, fast-time simulation, aircraft delay simulation models, Pareto frontiers, workload, tower air traffic controller, air traffic controller’s capacity
ACI Update

Volume 15 Number 3

Editorial
Simon Beckett, Publisher
Practice papers
A collaborative approach to business continuity and organisational resilience when dealing with a major crisis, such as COVID-19
Thomas Romig, Vice President Safety and Operations, Airports Council International

Most businesses are familiar with the notion of planning and developing contingency measures for foreseeable adverse situations or events that could affect their capability to deliver services or achieve their short-, medium- or long-term objectives. Not that many businesses, however, are fully prepared to face major or catastrophic events that are hard to foresee and predict. The aviation industry is currently dealing with the unforeseen and major impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic. It is having to adapt and review established contingency plans as well as come up with new ways to mitigate the significant operational and economic impacts of this unprecedented situation. Airport operators have a key role to play in this situation coordinating the overall business continuity and resilience of the airport system. This paper explores some of the key aspects of tackling business continuity planning from an airport system approach, dealing not only with operational resilience but also with economic sustainability, and provides a case study of the approach taken at Geneva Airport in Switzerland.
Keywords: business continuity, emergency planning, COVID-19, airport operations centre
An airport approach to digital transformation
Aymeric Dussart, Vice President of Technology and Innovation, Aéroports de Montréal

The complexity of the airport business and its logistical environment is a well-known feature of our industry. This complexity often translates into significant technological needs within a highly available, stable and resilient information technology (IT) operational framework. The financial and human resources devoted to the IT function in airports, however, are not always comparable to those of equal complexity in other industries making it challenging to deploy digital transformation programmes. Consequently, it is necessary for airport IT functions to adopt a set of strategies that allow them to navigate the thin line of a large number of critical systems to be operated while respecting the limited resources offered by the relatively small size of the organisations that exploit these tools. This paper discusses such strategies that have been put in place at YUL (Montreal-Trudeau International Airport) in order to have winning conditions for a successful digital transformation.
Keywords: design-build, technology systems, integration, master builder
IoT-based airport systems: A unified approach towards establishing trust for high security and integrity of industrial IoT platforms and sensors
Nikos Papagiannopoulos, Senior Project Manager, IT&T Data Services, Athens International Airport, Konstantinos Loupos, Head of R&D Program, Inlecom and Christos Skoufis, Senior Project Manager, R&D/R&I projects, eBOS Technologies

This paper introduces the latest research information on the emerging importance of internet of things (IoT) and edge or fog computing in modern Operational Technology (OT) based airport systems. It cites the novel aspects that arise as they become integral parts of critical systems such as airport; building automation; energy; environmental, physical and perimeter security; passenger processing and other airport systems. IoT-based sensors provide a whole new range of features considerably advanced than those of previous generations of sensors, by capturing and processing data and information at the source. Although the benefits of using IoT-based platforms and edge computing have proven a game changer for airport systems, aspects such as the privacy, security and safety and risk of utilising IoT-based architectures emerged from airport operators, as they were introduced and employed at airport operational environments. It is the aim of this paper to provide readers with the latest research on technologies that address those topics and their importance within an airport business and operational framework. This research has taken place in the context of CHARIOT project under the funding of Horizon programme by a consortium of companies that developed and validated those methods and tools that aim to address the privacy, security and safety aspects of IoT-based airport systems.
Keywords: IoT, edge computing, fog computing, IoT security, IoT Airport systems, CHARIOT
Why survey data is fundamental to developing data-driven strategies
Firelli Pitters, Managing Director, Unison Consulting

Understanding airport customers is ever more critical to adapt operations to the current and post-COVID-19 airport market. Gathering insight as to how the airport market has changed is critical to help instill confidence in air travel, meet the needs of airport users and identify opportunities to enhance revenues. Survey research is the most reliable method of collecting information directly from individuals about what they believe and how they behave. Surveys can be administered using a variety of formats to help identify short-term operational challenges as well as long-term planning strategies. Survey design and data analysis, however, must be carefully executed. Ideally, project professionals should possess a deep knowledge of survey research methods and statistical analysis, as well as experience with the nuances of the entire airport ecosystem to ensure scarce budgets and resources are best used.
Keywords: airport research, surveys, airport operations, business planning, passenger profiles, guest satisfaction, revenue opportunities, COVID-19, travel behaviour, decision-making, data analytics
Case studies
From laboratory to real life: Fraport’s approach to applying artificial intelligence in airside operations and ground handling
Rolf Felkel, Senior Vice President Applications and Partner Management, Torben Barth, Senior Consultant and Data Scientist, Thilo Schneider, Senior Consultant and Data Scientist and Björn D Vieten, Senior Consultant, Project Manager and Requirements Engineer, Fraport AG

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been gradually finding its way into various areas of our life in recent years including air traffic and airport management. Establishing a basic understanding of the characteristics of this specific class of algorithms and the associated conceptual differences to classic information technology (IT) solutions is increasingly proving to be a critical success factor when introducing and running AI solutions in a safety- and security-critical environment such as commercial aviation. This paper explains how Fraport has been establishing a multilevel organisational AI approach. The approach is demonstrated at the example of the project on establishing a more precise prediction of arrival times at the gate (Estimated In-Block Time [EIBT]) which was used as a catalyst in this process. Fraport’s approach stretches across the entire solution development process, from understanding the problem and determining the room for improvement in an application-oriented data lab format called the Corporate Analytics Centre (CAC), all the way to developing a full-scale IT solution for operational use in the ‘IT Factory’. The practical experience of the first project has shown that not only technical challenges have to be solved during the development and implementation of the first AI solutions but it was also clearly a matter of establishing trust in AI solutions on various hierarchical levels on the user side.
Keywords: artificial intelligence, data science, big data, Estimated In-Block Time (EIBT), Estimated Landing Time (ELDT), radar tracks
How Sweden’s roadmap for fossil-free aviation paved the way for a more constructive dialogue regarding aviation and climate change
Henrik Littorin, Strategist and sustainable aviation consultant, HL Insight

Based on the decision by the parliament to make Sweden climate neutral by 2045, the governmental initiative Fossil Free Sweden has encouraged business sectors to draw up their own roadmaps as to how they will be fossil free while also increasing their competitiveness. The aviation sector in Sweden responded to this and was one of the first nine industries in Sweden to handover a roadmap to the Swedish government in 2018. After the roadmap was delivered to the government, a number of coordinated initiatives have been initiated both by the industry and by the government. It has in many parts contributed to a more constructive debate regarding aviation and climate change. The roadmap is based on two long-term goals. The first one is fossil-free domestic air traffic in Sweden 2030. This requires that approximately 15 per cent of all jet fuel in Sweden is replaced by fossil-free fuels. The other goal is that all aircraft taking off from Swedish airports will be fossil free in 2045. By focusing on a few key challenges and solutions where all involved parties could agree, it was possible to deliver a roadmap that seemed realistic and was broadly accepted. One finding in the roadmap is that a pragmatic and balanced approach between what is technically and commercially possible is needed. There are solutions that work today and where the basic efforts are will, courage, clarity and a working business model. If we dare venture into new solutions and learn from these ventures, we will probably reach much further than if we wait for the perfect solution. One example is Swedavia Airport’s decision to buy sustainable aviation fuel corresponding to the fuel demand for Swedavia’s own business trips. Swedavia made a procurement of this amount of fuel. The biofuel was purchased and delivered as a blend in the aviation fuel distribution system in Sweden. Last year, Swedavia made a joint procurement with three other companies. It was a very important step as it is not a traditional compensation but an actual reduction of emissions and something that can easily be copied by all companies and authorities in Sweden as well as in other countries. This paper will describe the process behind the roadmap for fossil-free aviation in Sweden and some of the initiatives that have evolved as a response to the roadmap.
Keywords: fossil free, biojet, sustainability, roadmap, electrification, decarbonisation
Research papers
Towards building a species-specific risk model for mammal-aircraft strikes
Brendan M. Carswell and Roy V. Rea, Ecosystem Science and Management Program, University of Northern British Columbia, Gary F. Searing, Bird Strike Association of Canada and Gayle Hesse, British Columbia Conservation Foundation, Wildlife Collision Prevention Program

Wildlife strikes are a significant issue in the aviation industry, especially strikes with medium- to large-sized mammals, which pose a high risk of damage to aircraft and human safety. Despite the identified threat that mammals can pose to aircraft, few works have been published on ways to rank and predict the risk of mammalian species to aircraft. This study used remote camera trap data collected from an array of wildlife camera traps at the Prince George International Airport (YXS), Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, to calculate strike risk for various species of mammals involved in runway incidents between January 2012 and December 2018. Carnivores such as red foxes and coyotes were found to be the highest risk mammal species at YXS, but foxes were found airside infrequently compared to coyotes. Binary logistic regression modelling was used in an attempt to predict variables leading to runway incidents with coyotes at YXS. The highest supported logistic regression model predicting coyote incidents included the variables ‘weekday’, ‘month’ and ‘season’. Although data from camera traps did not help to predict incidents, trend data collected from camera traps mirrored coyote incident data, suggesting that camera traps are useful for capturing times of the day and seasons of the year in which coyotes are active at the airport. Suggestions are provided as to how cameras might be used to track the movement of animals more accurately and what other data could be useful in helping to build risk assessments and models to predict aircraft incidents with mammals of interest.
Keywords: risk assessment, wildlife strike, animal, camera trap, aircraft
Improving messaging to airport community residents: An application of sentiment analysis to community engagement
Tony Diana, Division Manager for Outreach in the Office of NextGen Collaboration and Messaging, US Federal Aviation Administration

Natural Language Processing has made significant progress over the last decades with the development of open-source software and dedicated libraries. Sentiment analysis has become a best practice in both private and public organisations. While airports have utilised sentiment analysis to assess their image and level of service, it has not been extensively used as a tool to be proactive when airport operators engage community residents. This analysis shows how sentiment analysis can be used to anticipate residents’ attitudes based on changes in key operational factors.
Keywords: sentiment analysis, Natural Language Processing, community engagement
ACI Update

Volume 15 Number 2

Editorial
Simon Beckett, Publisher
Practice papers
What business are airports really in?
Rian Burger, Senior Principal, Airports and Brandon Orr, Transportation Project Manager, Stantec

Most airports have an elevated vulnerability to aviation market fluctuations, which was emphasised during the coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic, when most airports experienced traffic downturns in excess of 90 per cent. This led them to batten the hatches by cutting operational costs to the bone, shelving major capital programmes and shuttering swathes of terminal infrastructure. Worldwide, terminals became ghost towns, and there were rumours of airport bankruptcy. The crisis made it patently clear that airports typically had very little alternative income with which to keep the wolf from the door during such events, leading the authors to ask the question whether the airport business is not too specialised and whether it might not benefit from diversification. In considering this question, it became apparent that the airport business as we know it today might also be in danger of major disruption within the next decade. This paper argues that it might be time for airports to reassess their business model by asking the question: What business are we really in? The proposed answer might be surprising for many airport authorities who have focused on aviation as their core business for the past century. The paper offers a range of provocative thoughts and ideas aimed at encouraging airport authorities to reassess their strategic plans and innovate towards a more resilient and sustainable business model that is integrated with their surrounding communities and regions, while staying ahead of the evolution of the mobility market.
Keywords: business model, resiliency, diversification, innovation, disruption, mobility, connecting
Airport technology systems in the design-build environment
Hunter S. Fulghum, Principal technology consultant, Arts & Engineering PLLC

The design-build method for construction is increasingly being applied to the delivery of airport projects. This includes the technology systems that are necessary for the efficient operation of these facilities. Technology systems present a unique set of challenges to the design-builder, many of which will be new to contractors. This paper examines the issues associated with the design-build approach to technology in the airport market, and ways in which the design-builder can adjust and refine their approach to deliver projects more effectively.
Keywords: design-build, technology systems, integration, master builder
How to become successfully ‘net zero’
Jean-François Guitard, Director of Business Development & Public Affairs, Aeroports De La Cote D’Azur

The aim of this paper is to show how important sustainable development is becoming for airports. The paper explores the current manner by which an airport needs to be much more virtuous, for example, by using the Airport Carbon Accreditation. But this carbon neutrality is only a first step that unfortunately many airports are not currently achieving. Airports must be more ambitious and reach the net zero level, which means carbon absorption and not offsetting. Many actions can be undertaken by airports in order to be compliant with social and environmental aspects that are key to the future. If airports do not cope with this trend, there is a major threat including one in the near future. In addition to reaching the net zero level, airports must be proactive in various fields in order to secure a better and a green future for airports. This can include measures for many stakeholders and better use of aircraft on land and airport accessibility.
Keywords: sustainable development, carbon neutral, environment, green airport
Simulating for real: The why and how of Security Drills at the security checkpoint
Stephanie Walter, Applied Scientist, Dr Franziska Hofer, Founding Member, Zoé Dolder and Dr Signe Maria Ghelfi, Senior Researcher, Research and Development Group, Zurich State Police — Airport Division/Research and Development

The work at the airport security checkpoint is challenging because threat situations, for which security officers are primarily trained, happen rarely. It is therefore of high importance to raise awareness and have constant concentration. This paper analyses the work of a security officer with regard to psychological mechanisms and gives recommendations for quality-control programmes. This paper presents a new training concept, namely security drills, which are covert training cases embedded in real-life settings. Security drills build a bridge between training and testing integrated in a psychologically safe environment and with the possibility to individually reflect. The paper introduces this training approach and gives recommendations on what to consider when developing new quality-control programmes.
Keywords: airport security, quality control, practical training, decision-making, security drills
Decarbonising gate operations through clean energy solutions
Stephen Barrett, Principal, Barrett Energy Resources Group and Eduardo Caldera-Petit, Programme Management Officer at UN Environment Programme

Civil aviation authorities, working with their airport, airline and aviation business partners, are developing plans to achieve carbon-neutral aviation growth from 2020. This paper discusses how, in order to meet this goal, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Member States have agreed to a basket of measures for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from international aviation. One effective measure identified is replacing aircraft auxiliary power unit emissions with gate electrification systems and solar power as described in the United Nations Clean Development Mechanism small-scale methodology: solar power for domestic aircraft at-gate operations. ICAO, with funding support from international partners, has recently completed three airport pilot projects — in Cameroon, Jamaica and Kenya — that demonstrate how States can implement the solar at-gate measure. Beyond the direct application to auxiliary power units and gate electrification, the solar at-gate concept offers a more general approach as to how other airport electrification conversion projects, including ground support equipment, airport ground transportation and passenger vehicle use, can maximise emission reduction benefits by eliminating fossil-fuel combustion and replacing it with carbon-free electricity. This paper discusses the solar at-gate example, which demonstrates the opportunities associated with maximising airport electrification and supplying the new electricity demand with clean energy for carbon emission reductions consistent with the global efforts to address climate change, and at the same time, accelerating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through innovation for a greener future.
Keywords: environment, climate change, renewable energy, gate electrification
Case study
The quiet airport: San Francisco International Airport’s programme for managing terminal noise for an improved guest experience
Christopher Birch, Director of Guest Experience, Chief Operating Officer’s Office, San Francisco International Airport

While discussions about noise at airports usually focus on the impact aircraft have on neighbouring communities, a new conversation is emerging around the impact noise has on airport ambiance, and how satisfaction and revenue may be diminished. Left unmanaged, excess noise can grow to an enormous proportion and range and negatively affect the guest experience while adding little intended value. This paper discusses how airports are fishing for opportunities to improve satisfaction and revenue by implementing sensible noise policies that serve also to improve communication with passengers in order to counter this trend.
Keywords: guest experience, ambiance, noise, quiet airport
Research papers
Conceptualising airport digital maturity and dimensions of technological and organisational transformation
Nigel Halpern, Professor of Air Transport and Tourism Management, Department of Marketing, Kristiania University College, Thomas Budd, Lecturer in Airport Planning and Management, the Centre for Air Transport Management and Digital Aviation Research Technology Centre, Cranfield University, Pere Suau-Sanchez, Senior Lecturer, Air Transport Management, the Centre for Air Transport Management, Cranfield University and Associate Professor, Open University of Catalonia, Svein Bråthen, Full Professor in Transport Economics and Deodat Mwesiumo, Associate Professor in Supply Chain Management, Faculty of Logistics, Molde University College

As airports undergo digital transformation, ie a paradigmatic shift in the way digital technologies are adopted and used, there is a need for actionable insights to ensure that airport digital maturity is achieved. Using an integrative review of literature, this paper develops an airport digital maturity model, focusing mainly on a passenger experience perspective. The paper then delineates two dimensions of digital transformation — technological and organisational. Subsequently, an airport digital transformation model is conceptualised to identify key factors that airports need to consider when transforming their business and interesting lines of enquiry for future research. Insights offered by the model are relevant to both practitioners and researchers interested in conducting future studies in this area.
Keywords: airports, maturity models, digital transformation, technology, organisation
Effects of departure manager and arrival manager systems on airport capacity
Paola Di Mascio, Associate Professor, Damiano Cervelli and Alessandro Comoda Correra, University of Rome, Luca Frasacco, Air Traffic Controller Officer and Eleonora Luciano, Air Traffic Management Engineer, Ente Nazionale Assistenza al Volo and Laura Moretti, University of Rome

At the international level, interest in airport capacity has been growing in the last few years because its maximisation ensures best performance of infrastructure. Infrastructure, procedure and human factor constraints, however, should be considered to ensure a safe and regular flow of the flights. The paper presents the values of airport capacity obtained from two methodologies: the Advisory Circular AC 150/5060-5 and the Air Traffic Optimisation (AirTOp) fast time simulator (FTS). Two scenarios have been analysed: the ‘Baseline’ scenario (ie the current procedural and infrastructural airport layout) and the ‘What if ’ scenario (ie the current layout managed with Departure MANager and Arrival MANager systems). The simpler approach of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) advisory circular (AC) cannot model both the complex layout of the three-runway airport and the effects of planning tools. Its potential is limited to fast and preliminary analyses. Therefore, under knotty geometrical and procedural conditions, the use of aircraft delay simulation models or (FTS) models is the only tool that meets the needs of airport-management bodies. Particularly, the current traffic volume of the examined airport is far from its Baseline capacity (−30 per cent) and is 40 per cent lower that the ‘What-if ’ capacity. The obtained results refer to the specific examined layout, but the pursed approach could be implemented to different airports.
Keywords: airport capacity, saturation, fast time simulation, airport planning, AMAN, DMAN, Coupled AMAN–DMAN
ACI Update

Volume 15 Number 1 - Special Issue: COVID-19

Editorial
Simon Beckett, Publisher
Practice papers
Thoughts on the post-pandemic new normal in air travel
Jim Robinson, Managing Director, Pegasus Aviation Advisors

The COVID-19 pandemic will compel permanent transformation of the travel industry and its aviation sector. Key disruptors emerging from the pandemic will include: Behavioural changes of the traveling public; increased fear of contracting the virus during travel; continued uncertainty as to when an effective vaccine will be available, if ever; severe global economic downturn; and revised procedures to be introduced at airports and onboard aircraft that increase the inconvenience of air travel. While the immediate effects of the pandemic may be temporary, interaction with more strategic factors, such as globalisation and the digital economy, could result in disruption of the air travel sector. Issues addressed in this paper include: Aviation-industry recovery and changes to the business model; need for regulatory change; inherent uncertainty in forecasting; and impact on airport operations and development. This paper explores the impact of these factors and how they could permanently transform the air travel industry, and how the trends of global digitalisation present a unique opportunity to reinvent the entire aviation sector business model as well as the end-to-end travel experience. To achieve this will require meaningful collaboration of the digital technology and air transport sectors to drive innovation and transformational change in response to this challenge for society.
Keywords: digital, transformation, passenger, experience, trusted, platform
Utility cost savings helping airports in a pandemic
Charles F. Marshall, Airport Engineering Manager, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport

COVID-19 is impacting health, economics and operations around the world. As airports consider strategies to be resilient from this worldwide event, utility cost-savings projects are still tools to support this effort. Some airports are demonstrating that utility-savings projects work in different settings and locations. In addition to reducing energy and water costs, these projects also support sustainability efforts by reducing emissions and supporting other sustainability and resiliency goals. This paper presents some examples of how some airports are achieving this.
Keywords: COVID-19, energy, water, savings, projects, sustainability, resilience
Effective project leadership and culture under stay-home orders
Bob Bolton, Director of Airport Design and Construction, San Diego County Regional Airport Authority

The impact of COVID-19 has changed all of our lives and caused the global decline of aviation activity. The development/replacement of airport facilities and infrastructure, which was on a path to meet prior record travel demand and the need to replace ageing facilities, is now in jeopardy of moving forwards because of drastically reduced revenue streams, as the result of a substantial reduction in passenger volumes. Many airports are trying to decide if they should continue to advance design and construction activities or hold short and see how fast it takes historic operations to return. This paper discusses how, if things remain in flux, we will not finish building the infrastructure that is required to be in service when aviation returns to the levels we knew prior to 2020. It analyses how, if your airport had a gate shortage in 2019, there will likely be a similar projected condition in 2024. The paper stipulates how, while optimistically planning for the end of this global episode, airport operators can take advantage of this slow time and position facilities to meet the increased demand forecasted for aviation services. Airports around the world should decide when they could vigilantly advance development plans, supported by the airlines. Airport leaders must take action on an effective project delivery programme, managed by a team focused on partnerships for optimum results. High-performing teams are now required to collaborate and innovate remotely, holding virtual meetings and telecommuting on a grand scale, while handling the challenges of a world that is changing every day. Leaders and frontline managers must seize this opportunity and turn a challenging truth into a positive path to the development of a high-performing team, one that is capable of navigating for success for the future.
Keywords: airports, forecasted, development, culture, leadership, challenged, accountability, hybrid
The airport ground-transportation industry during COVID-19
Ray A. Mundy, Executive Director, AGTA

The purpose of this paper is to describe the airport ground-transportation industry as the integral third leg comprising the airline, airport, ground-transportation industry; the impact of COVID-19 on its operations; and how the industry is repositioning itself for the future. The paper also depicts the positive growth many of these operators were having prior to the COVID-2019 pandemic, and the types of traffic congestion along with financial concerns that were being addressed by North American airports. Like many transportation industries, airport ground transportation is comprised of asset-based and asset-light operators. The differences in the capabilities of these operators during this period of little-to-no demand are explained. Having these different capabilities will dictate the speed at which these different operations may gear back up to serve the airline travelling public. The paper also details the disproportional number of industry drivers affected by the virus and the financial difficulties many drivers are having in this industry. Also detailed are what operators are doing to provide safe operations for their drivers and their passengers. Furthermore provided are recommended guidelines for ground operators to follow in creating a safe environment for their drivers and their passengers. Finally, the paper looks to the future and how airports and ground-transportation operators might use this downtime to plan and implement improved services as the economy rebounds to pre-2020 levels.
Keywords: airport ground transportation, taxis, TNCs, airport parking
Case studies
The effect of COVID-19 on Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and resumption of operations
Scott M. Ayers, Safety Management System Manager and Derrick Crawley, Fire Safety Manager, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport

The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced a new invisible workplace hazard into our airport environment. In response, our management team applied a systematic approach in developing strategies to minimise risks and impacts to this imminent threat. Extensive efforts were focused on amending our emergency planning and continuity of airport operations to facilitate and support airline and concessionaire’s service levels. This paper discusses how, while developing our facility pandemic response plan and restoration strategies, our management team has integrated various safety-management principles, such as policy, safety assurances, communication and risk-management approaches, to reduce and mitigate employee and passenger risk and exposure. As we look towards a vaccine and recovery, our safety resiliency improved with more proactive actions including continuity of business operations, technology enhancements, online training, teleworking, virtual meetings and stakeholder collaborations and building a robust, resilient, active Safety Management System adaptive to any emergency such as COVID-19.
Keywords: COVID-19, safety, response, communication, emergency
Effects of COVID-19-related air traffic restrictions on local air quality at Zurich airport
Emanuel Fleuti, Head of Environment, Flughafen Zürich

This paper discusses the efforts of authorities to limit the spread of COVID-19 have led to restrictions in people’s mobility with significant impacts on air traffic operations worldwide. Zurich airport has experienced a drop of 91 per cent in aircraft movements from February to April 2020. The decrease in activity has led to a decrease in local emissions of 83 per cent for NOx, while NO2 concentrations at and around the airport decreased by only 50 per cent. Ultrafine particle numbers show similar values. The analysis further took into account the change in regional road traffic and the meteorology for comparable periods in 2019 and 2020, before and during the crisis.
Keywords: air traffic, airport, local air quality, emissions, impacts, COVID-19
Geneva Airport in 2020 and beyond: Validating our strategy to develop a sustainable airport and maintaining this in the new normal
André Schneider, CEO, Geneva Airport

How can airports today find the right balance between accommodating the demand for air travel, the needs of airlines, and also address a framework that imposes more and more constraints on the environmental impact of the airport’s activities? We will present the results after 3 years of implementing our strategy to address this in the context of Geneva Airport, a 17.9-million passenger airport in Switzerland. We will also discuss the impact of the COVID-19 crisis and how we will move ahead.
Keywords: COVID-19, airport strategy, sustainable development, licence to operate
Research paper
Effects of the COVID-19 crisis on airport investment grades and implications for debt financing
Hans-Arthur Vogel, Professor of Aviation Management, International University of Applied Sciences, Bad Honnef-Bonn

While a rich body of literature on airport performance has been established during the last three decades, significantly less attention has been given to related financing aspects — although these are directly influencing the cost structure of an airport, thus affecting financial performance. This paper discusses bond financing as one of the funding options of an airport company and how it is impacted on by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the law of risk and return, the price (interest) which the issuer needs to pay to raise money in the capital markets correlates to its risk profile as reflected by an investment grade. Such bond ratings are opinions assigned by credit rating agencies of the creditworthiness of the issuer’s debt. Globally reputable examples are Fitch Ratings, Moody’s Investor Service and Standard & Poor’s. The black swan COVID-19 brought air transportation to a standstill and keeps eroding credit metrics of airlines and airports. This study is comparing the credit ratings of 113 airports per year end 2019 vs investment grades assigned during the first semester 2020 (1H20). Comparable to the global financial crisis 2008/09, the number of downgrades has been limited, with most actions resulting in a one notch decrease. Privately owned airport operators have been concerned higher-than-average. The negative outlook, however, almost affected the entire sector. Investment grades appear to be more stable than share prices, which seem to be more volatile and to trigger rating actions. Nevertheless, the cost of capital for the bond financed share of debt tends to go up according to the risk and return trade-off.
Keywords: bond financing, rating agencies, rating rational, credit rating, COVID-19, pandemic
ACI Update