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A publication by :
The £1bn transformation
of Gatwick Airport.
An official report for the aviation community 2011.
DO YOU HAVE BAGGAGE TO HANDLE? Vanderlande bagstore early bag storage and bagload automated robot loading are operational at several major hub airports and integral to the new system design at Heathrow Terminal 3. www.vanderlande.com
Airports Council
International
European Region
Contents
6 Square de Meeûs
05 12
B-1000 Brussels
Belgium
Director General
Olivier Jankovec Foreword Enhancing and
Tel: +32 (0)2 552 09 71
Fax: +32 (0)2 513 26 42
Sir David Rowlands, Non- expanding North
Executive Chairman,
e-mail: olivier.jankovec@
aci-europe.org Gatwick Airport
Terminal
Wayne Lonsdale,
Senior manager
programme development
06
membership &
commercial services leader North Terminal and 03
Danielle Michel
airfield
Tel: +32 (0)2 552 09 78
Fax: +32 (0)2 502 56 37
The vision for
15
e-mail: danielle.michel@
aci-europe.org
Gatwick
Stewart Wingate, CEO
Magazine staff
Airfield excellence
08
Publisher
Daniel Coleman
David Wilson, head of
airside operations
Managing Editor
Ross Falconer
Transforming
Editor
Ralph Anker
Assistant Editor
Gatwick Airport
Raymond Melee, director of
capital projects
18
Achieving
Ryan Ghee
operational
10
Assistant Editor
Andreas Akerman efficiency
Designer Marcus Stanton, head of
Richard Jende terminals
The Gatwick
Sales Director
Brand – Your
20
Jenny Rayner
Project Manager
London Airport
James Howson Jeremy Fletcher,
Managing Director
brand communications Simplifying IT
Paul J. Hogan manager, and Samantha Stuart Birrell, chief
Holgate, head of airport information officer
communications
© PPS Publications Ltd. 2011
PPS Publications Ltd, 3a Gatwick
Metro Centre, Balcombe Road,
Horley, Surrey RH6 9GA, United
Kingdom. Tel: +(44) 1293 783 851,
Fax: +(44) 1293 782 959,
email: post@pps-publications.com
The opinions and views expressed
in this publication are not
necessarily those of ACI EUROPE www.anna.aero is Airline Network News & Analysis: This special report for the air transport community has been
or the Publisher. ACI EUROPE produced in partnership with anna.aero, and ACI EUROPE for:
and PPS Publications accepts
A totally free and open news and analysis
no responsibility or liability service dedicated to outstanding airline network
whether direct or indirect, as to planning intelligence, produced by a multi-
the currency, accuracy or quality disciplinary team led by Ralph Anker, a former
of the information, nor for any network planner with easyJet.
consequence of its use.
The importance of methodology
in Airport Systems Integration
k ey to the success of any airport
systems integration project is a
robust and proven methodol-
ogy; one with demonstrable
effectiveness in the delivery of large
Key elements of this
approach include:
• Understanding the stakeholder
community early in design.
manager who would be the first point
of contact for the customer. The mem-
bership of the teams, which would
be set up beneath this structure to
implement the various projects, would
airport integration projects. • Engaging with the appropriate depend on the nature of the project,
people, at the right time. but at an early stage the required skill
• Managing expectations. sets should be identified and individu-
Key aspects of a proven • Stakeholder engagement through- als selected for the identified roles.
04 methodology should include: out whole project life-cycle. The inevitable growth of an airport’s
• Establishing clear and well defined operations should remain well within the
• On-site integration teams. requirements understood by all. tested limits of the integration model
• Sound risk management processes. • Managing change to avoid ‘scope creep’. for many years to come, with rigorous
• Comprehensive interface manage- “stress-testing” to prove solid operation
ment, covering physical, organisational Ultra Electronics’ own Systems at a simulated flights per hour target of
and functional interfaces. Integration methodology has been the airport’s choosing. In order to quickly
• Well established quality processes, tested and refined over the past 7 enable new stake-holders to share
certified to ISO9001 standards, years and focuses on running individ- information with the wider community,
including robust change control and ual projects for each major deliverable,
F E AT U R E
Ultra’s approach to well-defined, open
version control. each with its own project team and standards for data exchange has proven
with an overarching leadership team invaluable in reducing implementa-
But these alone do not guarantee delivering to an overall schedule. A tion risk, time and cost. As an operation
success. Of particular importance in top level management team should be evolves, the technology must be flexible
the delivery of systems integration established, with individuals responsi- enough to move with it, forming new
projects is effective stakeholder and ble for design, delivery and integration re-usable standards for data exchange as
requirements management. reporting to an overall project you adapt to the airport’s needs.
A D V E R T I S I N G
For more information on Ultra’s Airport Systems Integration approach and methodology, please visit
www.ultra-as.com or contact your local Ultra representative.
Ultra Electronics Airport Systems
Innovation through experience
F E AT UR E
Masters of
Airport Systems
Integration
A D V E R T I S I N G
www.ultra-as.com
Ultra Electronics Airport Systems is one of
the world’s foremost providers of solutions to the
aviation industry.
Contact us: sales@ultra-as.com Visit: www.ultra-as.com
05
Foreword
By Sir David Rowlands, Chairman, Gatwick Airport
w e are delighted to
produce this magazine,
in partnership with ACI
EUROPE and anna.aero, and share
Gatwick’s story with you.
network here having recently moved
its long haul leisure destination to
Mauritius from Heathrow to Gatwick,
and returned its Malaga service to
Gatwick from Heathrow. This demon-
Our key source of competitive
advantage will be to deliver great
service every day, so that airlines
and passengers regard Gatwick as
London’s airport of choice.
It’s been almost 18 months since strates the competitive environment in I am proud of the remarkable efforts
Global Infrastructure Partners com- which we now operate. shown by each and every employee of
pleted its £1.51 billion acquisition of Gatwick over the past 18 months, who
Gatwick, creating an independent are working relentlessly to drive higher
airport and real competition in the service standards for our passengers.
South East airport market for the first Their efforts are delivering results.
time in decades. We are now compet- Queue times are down, with passen-
ing directly with the likes of Heathrow, gers now spending on average just
Rowlands
Stansted, Luton and London City, 1 minute and 47 seconds in security.
in one of the busiest air transport Complaints have fallen by a stagger-
markets in the world. “We want to drive growth ing 50% since 2010 and compliments
We want to drive growth in passen- have doubled, a demonstrable sign of
in passenger numbers
ger numbers and can see a clear path improving customer service.
towards 40 million passengers per year and can see a clear path Gatwick is changing, and at a great
by the end of the decade with our sin- towards 40 million pace. 81% of our £1 billion investment
gle runway and two terminals. passengers per year by the programme is currently under con-
Since new ownership, we have seen struction, and passengers are already
end of the decade with our
airlines expand the number of serv- reaping the benefits of new and
ices from Gatwick and actively take single runway and two improved facilities.
advantage of opportunities to switch terminals”. I hope, as you read this magazine,
their services between competing that you will see signs of an invigor-
airports. airberlin and Norwegian Air ated Gatwick, committed to improving
Shuttle have switched from Stansted the passenger experience throughout
to Gatwick. easyJet – our largest the airport and uncompromising
customer – has introduced 18 new in its approach to delivering the
routes since new ownership, and BA £1 billion capital investment
is expanding its point-to-point route programme efficiently.
Wingate
“We want to compete
and demonstrate that
having different owners
of the major airports will
deliver more innovation,
investment and better
service for passengers
06 and airlines.”
The vision for Gatwick
Delivering great Since it’s acquisition by Global Infrastructure
service every day Partners (GIP) in 2009, Gatwick Airport has
Since becoming chief executive in embarked on an ambitious and wide-reaching
December 2009, I have had one key
message for our employees and airline £1 billion capital investment programme that
partners. And it is this. Delivering great
service – every day – will be our key
aims to provide passengers with a world-
source of competitive advantage. It class airport experience. Stewart Wingate,
will be the one thing that will differenti-
ate us from other airports, and make the airport’s CEO, spoke to Ryan Ghee about
airlines and passengers choose to
fly from Gatwick. And we are trans-
what has already been achieved and what the
forming the service we deliver to our future holds for Gatwick.
passengers and airlines. For example, our own ambitions, understanding
reducing queues at security was one the goals of our airline customers,
of our early priorities and a problem- and anticipating the future needs of
atic area for the airport over a number passengers, so that we can efficiently
of years. By introducing assistance target the investments in infrastruc-
lanes for families, and by improving ture, assets, technology and people,
the basic processes and procedures that deliver the best outcomes.
in the main security areas, passengers We’re doing just that with our near
last year spent on average one minute £1 billion capital investment pro-
and 47 seconds queuing. And in every gramme, which I am confident will
month since the change of ownership, transform Gatwick and the service
Gatwick has achieved its service quality we provide to our passengers
target for security, which means that and airlines.
passengers are queuing for less than In the first few months under new
five minutes, 95% of the time. ownership, we re-examined the plan
inherited from the previous owner and
worked with our airlines to revise the
The inter-terminal shuttle was opened Investment programme to ensure it would meet
10 weeks ahead of schedule, in time To be successful, we need to invest their goals and ours.
for the 2010 summer season. in the right things, at the right time, To deliver desired outcomes as cost
with a clear understanding of the effectively as possible we’ve removed
benefits that will be delivered. For an some projects completely, combined
airport this means being clear about others where synergies exist and, by
Wingate
“In the South Terminal,
it’s about revitalisation,
while in the North
Terminal, it’s about
adding capacity.” 07
focusing on value for money, have first and that we each have an impor- we provide will ultimately deter-
been able to add new projects tant role to play. Working with the mine our success as an independent
within the overall cost. airport community we have identified airport, underpin our competitive
One such programme is a new £45 and signed up to some passenger position and compete to attract
million project to create a state-of- commitments, which outline the new airlines.
the-art, 19-lane central search area standards of service our passengers You will see through this maga-
in South Terminal. It will replace the can expect. zine a snapshot of Gatwick’s first
three existing search areas and will In headline terms, Gatwick’s pas- year as an independent airport and
open in time for summer this year. senger commitments centre on three our relentless focus on delivering
Such is our commitment to delivering core pledges: great service at Gatwick – and the
great service, we have removed a sig- importance of this to achieving our
nificant area of landside retail space to 1. We hate queues ambition for the airport. We’ve still
create the new search area – resulting 2. We’ll get you off on time got a lot of work to do, but we’re
in a £5 million annual revenue hit. 3. We’ll treat you as our guest thinking differently, developing
We have opted to extend pier 6 stronger partnerships with our air-
rather than build a seventh pier – sav- Three simple pledges capture the lines, and driving improvements with
ing £100 million. We combined the essence of what Gatwick passengers pace and conviction. This will help
replacement of pier 1 with the deliv- tell us they want and what we believe us grow and become London’s
ery of a new baggage system in South we can deliver. The level of service airport of choice.
Terminal – saving £50 million. Across
the programme, we are delivering
more for less.
Leadership
For too long, poor service per-
formance at airports has resulted in
a blame game with various organisa-
tions responsible for different parts
of the passenger journey. At Gatwick
we want every passenger to receive
great service, at every touchpoint
– to, through and from our airport.
And passengers deserve to know
what level of service we’re aiming
to deliver and how our performance
stacks up.
We are committed to driving the
performance standards and demon- There is currently £350-400 million worth of active construction work ongoing
strating the leadership necessary to
realise this ambition. We are working at Gatwick, following the completion of £100 million worth of projects during its
more closely than ever with our air- first year of independent ownership.
lines, their handling agents and our
other airport partners who recognise
that we all need to put the passenger
As a vital aspect of the overall £1 billion to be undertaken as a collaboration
project and, according to Melee, “we
capital investment programme, both the will deliver a better final product for as
North and South Terminals are currently much as £50 million cheaper.”
the subject of major regeneration projects.
Ryan Ghee spoke to Raymond Melee, Improved experience
Allied with the investment in North
director of capital projects, Gatwick Airport. Terminal – which has already seen the
redevelopment of the forecourt and
Transforming
interchange and also includes a £76
million extension and new 1,177-space
Multi Storey Car Park 6 – along with
the redevelopment of the airfield,
Gatwick Airport
Melee outlined that the passenger
journey will be vastly improved.
He said: “The whole journey, from
08
u
when you arrive at the airport to
check-in, through to security and your
experience in the departure lounge,
nder the new ownership investment to improve the efficiency of will be significantly changed at every
model, a target was the airport and, in turn, the experience step along the way.
immediately set to identify offered to passengers. “For arrivals, when you go out to
efficiencies in the planned investment “We’ve focused on the passenger transportation, whether that’s pub-
in Gatwick. “The original capital experience in two ways,” Melee said. lic or private, the roadways and the
investment programme came in at a “The first is processes: How do we wayfinding are being improved. From
projected cost of £985 million, but we handle check-in and the overall level of point-to-point, the whole journey will be
challenged ourselves and have service to improve the passenger experi- dramatically improved.”
managed to reduce this to a projected ence? By examining these processes A revision of previous policies and
£900 million. We’ll be delivering the the solution does not necessarily require procedures based on industry best prac-
same projects for less money at a investment in infrastructure and this is tice has been key to shaping not just the
higher value,” Melee explained. something that we’re working on with projects themselves but also the manner
“Our focus is on the passenger jour- the airlines and the ground handlers. in which they are delivered; something
ney and we’re working with our airlines “Then there are the projects that do highlighted by the Design for Six Sigma
to create an airport that people choose require a capital investment. For exam- approach that has been applied to every
to travel from. In the South Terminal, ple, the South Terminal security model stage of each development project.
a lot of the work is about modernisa- is currently very confusing for passen- Safety is also of paramount
tion and in the North Terminal it’s very gers so we’re consolidating security importance throughout each of the
much the same, but we’re also expand- into a single central area, which is both construction projects. “We devel-
ing the capacity through the south and visible and intuitive. This project wasn’t oped ‘Destination Zero’ which is a
east portions of the terminal.” even in the original programme, but very detailed and wide-ranging safety
The investment in the South Terminal we challenged ourselves to deliver programme aimed at not just chang-
spans from the redevelopment of the efficiencies and improve the key pinch- ing the behaviour, but also the entire
forecourt to the landside concourse and point in the airport journey.” safety culture,” Melee said. “From day
the departure lounge, while security, The South Terminal baggage one we talked about safety as one of
immigration and the baggage handling handling system and the Pier 1 refur- our core values and, more than one
system are also subject to considerable bishment has also been redesigned year on, that has not changed.”
Melee
“The whole journey,
from when you arrive at
the airport to check-in,
through to security and
your experience in the
departure lounge, will be
significantly changed at
every step along the way.”
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Following the change of ownership, Gatwick Airport needed a fresh
identity. Rather than simply replacing the signs, this has involved
a complex and far-reaching project, as outlined by Jeremy Fletcher,
Gatwick’s brand communications manager, and Samantha Holgate,
head of airport communications. Ryan Ghee reports.
a t the heart of Gatwick’s new
identity is the slogan: ‘Your
London Airport’, encapsulat- The Gatwick
Brand – Your
ing the notion that the airport has
been placed back in the hands
of its customers.
“We wanted to distance ourselves
10
London Airport
from the old days of BAA ownership.
We wanted Gatwick to stand on its
own two feet and make sure that it
is recognised in its own right,”
Fletcher explained.
This slogan alone says a lot about
the approach of the current owners. make people smile while giving them signage – which now consists of yellow
“Our new identity is about being more a high-quality service. text on a black background to improve
approachable and we want passengers “The identity really conveys what visibility and wayfinding – the hoard-
to feel the improvements we’re mak- we’re about. It’s not just about what we ings which are in place to separate
ing,” Holgate said. “What we’re aiming perceive ourselves to be, but passen- passengers from the ongoing works
to be is more friendly, straightforward gers’ perception and our reputation are also being used as a “canvas”
and open, and I think the new brand among airlines, partners, the local to communicate with passengers in
and approach to passenger communi- community and our peers.” a light-hearted and conversational
cation will help to achieve this.” style. Passengers with ‘smartphones’
Of course, creating a new image and can even view video footage of the
establishing new ideologies is a proc- Building relationships ongoing projects via the ‘Stickybits’
ess that takes some time. Following Gatwick’s new identity is very much application by simply using their
the acquisition, detailed passenger centred on building a closer relation- mobile device to scan a barcode on
research was undertaken and an ship with its passengers. In order to do the hoardings.
explicit effort was made to ensure that this, social media, such as Twitter, has At the Econsultancy Innovation
the business priorities reflect the needs been embraced as a communication Awards 2010, Gatwick won the award
and demands of the passengers. and customer service tool, while direct, for ‘Innovation in Online Customer
Fletcher said: “The brand itself personal responses to passenger que- Service’. The airport was also short-
touches all elements of the busi- ries are also promoted. listed in the ‘Best use of social media’
ness. Hugely important is the whole Throughout the terminal building, category at the CIPR Excellence
personal approach. It’s about our the new identity is clearly in evidence. Awards 2011.
staff, our work ethic and wanting to As well as the introduction of new This innovative approach also
extends to the passenger-orientated
events that were held throughout
2010, ranging from the Gatwick
Runway Models competition to
Gatwick Glow, which offered passen-
gers free spray tans to prepare them
for their summer holidays.
“It’s all about doing something dif-
ferent,” Fletcher explained. “You don’t
normally go to an airport and expect
this type of entertaining experience.
A lot of the things we have done
recently are outside the boundaries of
what we used to do.
“Gatwick is becoming far more
friendly and human in a way that the
other larger airports aren’t. This makes
In 2010, Gatwick Airport held various innovative passenger- a big difference in terms of people
choosing to fly from Gatwick, work
orientated events to improve the passenger experience, including at Gatwick, or do their business at
Gatwick Glow and Gatwick Runway Models. Gatwick. We want to grow and to do
this we will continue to be flexible and
willing to work with people in order to
offer something different.”Merson Sign Design offers
wayfinding expertise
w ith Gatwick Airport
coming under new
ownership in 2010, the
management was keen to give the
airport its own style of wayfinding
signage masterplanning and wayfind-
ing in this region.
Airport terminal sign design is a
complex field requiring expertise
in areas such as bomb blast meas-
signage and branding to clearly ures, product durability, servicing
differentiate it from BAA airports and requirements for high usage areas
their signature wayfinding. and integration requirements with FIDS
Merson Sign Design was
appointed by Gatwick Airport to
(Flight Information Displays) and cus-
tomer help points.
11
research the current wayfinding delivery Merson has invaluable experience
methods in airports worldwide. The in these and all associated disciplines,
process included working with Gatwick gained in its delivery of London
Communication and Design Teams to Heathrow’s Terminal 5 signage, com-
develop a number of potential ways prising some 33,000 signs of all types. signs were installed at check-in - a
forward. The output from this key stage, The options that were subse- landside location - and in one of the
combined with Merson’s extensive quently assessed as the strongest departure lounges - an airside location.
knowledge of Gatwick Airport and its candidates were then manufactured These locations were selected as they
A D V E R T I S I N G
operations, was used to prepare a pro- as prototype signs, which were provide feedback from passengers in
posal for GAL (Gatwick Airport Limited) installed in the airport terminals for live very different parts of their airport way-
illustrating potential design directions environment assessment. finding experience.
for their new wayfinding signage. GAL then undertook subjective The signage design development
A number of influences research, primarily in the form of exten- continues to advance using the passen-
from Middle Eastern airport termi- sive passenger questionnaires, to gain ger feedback and Merson Sign Design
nals were favoured, partly as a result vital feedback on the effectiveness of will be working with GAL to successfully
of Merson’s extensive experience of each proposed scheme. The prototype conclude the design process.
F E AT UR E
A D VE R T I S IN G
F E AT U R EArrivals and departures
will be located on different
levels, eliminating
cross-flow problems and
improving passenger
12 wayfinding.
Enhancing l onsdale’s role requires him to
oversee the various complex
processes involved in the regen-
and expanding
eration of both the North Terminal and
the airfield and ensure that each stage
is completed both seamlessly and
within budget.
North Terminal
As with the South Terminal, the fore-
court and the interchange, which provide
an all-important welcome to passengers
arriving at the North Terminal, are key
aspects of the plans. While the revitali-
sation and expansion of the forecourt
has already been completed, a new
The redevelopment of Gatwick Airport’s North interchange has also been constructed,
Terminal has two main objectives: to upgrade and providing a modern new entrance into
the terminal and a new station for the
modernise the existing facilities, and to expand inter-terminal shuttle.
“The old track transit system was
the capacity by extending the southern and taken out in September 2009 and
eastern ends of the terminal. Ryan Ghee discussed the new one was in place and opera-
tional by 1 July 2010, a full 16 weeks
this project – and the redevelopment of the airfield ahead of our deadline,” Lonsdale
– with Wayne Lonsdale, Gatwick’s programme said. This £47 million investment has
resulted in the improved reliability and
development leader North Terminal and airfield. efficiency of transfers between the
The eastern end of the
North Terminal is being
extended to provide
additional check-in and
baggage reclaim capacity.The £47 million inter-
terminal shuttle has
resulted in the improved
reliability and eff iciency
of transfers between the
two terminals. 13
two terminals, while the utilisation of both additional check-in and bag- – a long-standing kink on one of the
the latest technology also allows for gage reclaim capacity. main arteries of the airport‘s taxiway
improved safety and up-to-the-minute A total of 27 new check-in desks system – has been realigned and
service information. will be added along with four new reconstructed using efficiency savings
Lonsdale continued: “We demolished reclaim belts, three for international from the North West Zone project,
all of the old North Terminal station and arrivals – with one safeguarded for while work on Taxiway Lima was com-
we’ve constructed a new interchange future A380 operations – and one pleted by Easter 2011. The team is
which satisfies all of the new safety and domestic belt. The north-east corner also currently specifying the require-
security regulations. No vehicles are of the terminal will also be extended ments for the renovation of taxiways
permitted within 25 metres of the ter- to allow for the expansion of the Papa and November.
minal building, so we have created new plant rooms. A resurfacing of the runway is also
forecourt facilities as well. “The North Terminal baggage sys- planned for 2012 and due to the
One of the key issues that has also tem will also be upgraded at a cost single-runway nature of the airport
been addressed is the cross-flow pas- of £32 million,” Lonsdale said. “We this is a project that requires the most
sengers, a particular issue in North will replace the whole system in the intricate of planning processes. “This
Terminal previously. main baggage hall and we will go is going to be very challenging,”
“From the interchange, passengers from six sorters to two sorters and Lonsdale explained. “The runway
will go up the two moving walk- this will make the system a lot more will close late-evening and must be
ways and when they meet people reliable and efficient and it will cre- handed back to airfield operations
coming off the shuttle or from the ate more flexibility. Early bag store in time for the first flight arrivals at
lifts they will all be travelling in the facilities will also allow us to take the approximately 5am. Anything we
same direction into departures,” bags from the passengers as soon have touched must be back in place
Lonsdale explained. as they arrive at the airport. This will and fully operational by this deadline
“Arrivals will be on the ground make a massive difference to cus- – so there’s a lot of pressure.
floor and there will be a direct route tomer service.” “We’re the busiest single-runway
into the car park. This means that civil airport in the world and we have
departing and arriving passengers
will never cross and it also makes the Airfield regeneration a peak of 53 ATMs (air traffic move-
ments) per hour. We have to
wayfinding process more intuitive.” Lonsdale’s responsibilities stretch make sure that we don’t affect this
The brand new Multi Storey Car far beyond the North Terminal build- operation at all.”
Park 6 – which is being constructed ing and he outlined the significance Alongside the resurfacing of the
using innovative pre-cast, offsite of major investment in the airfield. runway, the airfield ground lighting
construction techniques – is expected Six multi-aircraft ramp system (MARS) will also be completely upgraded
to be complete during spring 2011 stands have already been delivered, and while a strict plan of action is
and this will provide additional short- four of which can cater for Boeing 747 being developed, a contingency
stay parking for 1,177 vehicles with a size aircraft, with two capable of han- plan is being integrated to ensure
direct link to the terminal building. dling the new Airbus A380 aircraft. The that all eventualities are accounted
latter is especially significant as this for and any impact on airport opera-
allows the airport to deal with diverted
Increased capacity aircraft of this size and is a stepping
tions is minimal.
Lonsdale explained: “Our main aim
In order to increase the capac- stone for full operations, for which is to improve the passenger experi-
ity of the North Terminal from 16 planning permission was granted ence, so we will do everything in our
million to 20 million passengers in October 2010. power to make sure that there are no
annually, the eastern end of the ter- Refurbishment of the taxiways is negative knock-on effects during the
minal is being extended to provide also well underway. The ‘Juliet Kink’ delivery of the projects.”AirRadio’s
communications
solutions
14
g round handling, passenger
handling, security and swift
aircraft turnaround are all vital
aspects of the operation of any
airport. While each of these may
The network can also carry data allow-
ing customers to deploy task allocation
applications to specify the use of
resources – both human and physical –
in real-time. The resulting data can then
communications between the operations
office on the ground and the flight crew,
enabling them to maximise the utilisa-
tion of their resources and eliminate
unproductive time. Examples include:
appear to be rather separate compo- provide management information for advising of last minute events such as
nents of the airport mechanism, the use in enhancing operational perform- gate changes or requests for passenger
effective operation of all of them is ance, especially the aircraft turnaround wheelchairs, or advance warning of situa-
intrinsically linked to the efficiency of process. AirRadio’s ground to air service tions such as engineering issues.
the communication between airport (otherwise known as Co VHF) provides Recently, AirRadio has become
staff in their respective areas. involved in supporting the development
AirRadio supplies communications of an affordable airport Collaborative
solutions covering all operational Decision Making (CDM) solution that will
disciplines; supported by scheduled enable accurate monitoring and tracking
F E AT U R E
preventative maintenance in line with of Target Off-Block Time (TOBT), the
agreed customer service levels from key focus of the EUROCONTROL Single
our base at Gatwick. European Skies Initiative (SESAR). The
Our trunk network platform allows use of existing AirRadio communications
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calls so users can share operational mes- optimises the number of devices in oper-
sages across all areas of the airport and ation, minimising the requirement for
A D V E R T I S I N G
across different user groups – such as user training, maintenance and support
check-in, catering, fuelling or security. during the life of CDM.
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Airfield excellence
Gatwick could see its throughput grow from the
31 million passengers handled in 2010 to around
40 million by the end of the current decade
with a two-terminal, one-runway operation. It
is, therefore, applying new ways of thinking to
drive airfield efficiency and maximise capacity,
as David Wilson, head of airside operations,
Gatwick Airport, explained.
g atwick is the busiest single
runway airport in the world, the
second busiest airport in the UK
and the eighth busiest in
Europe. It is also the largest point-to-
Decision Making (A-CDM). Gatwick
is one of 33 airports in Europe cur-
rently implementing A-CDM and the
airport is at release three of the five-
phase release of the project. Wilson
point airport in the world, and with no explained that it will enable real-time
foreseeable plans to pursue a second decision making, meaning the airport,
runway, optimising the mix of traffic airline and handling agent community
and use of the runway is expected to
facilitate the growth to over 40 million
will all benefit. Indeed, reduced taxi
times and runway holding times will Wilson
passengers per year. provide a benefit in terms of lower fuel “Following the first period of snow
A significant project aimed at usage and fewer emissions. in late-November 2010, we made an
optimising that runway performance “A-CDM does not directly add
immediate decision to invest more
is currently being undertaken by the capacity, but it can generate more
air traffic management performance capacity as a by-product of more effi- than £8 million to double the size of
team, who are working with Gatwick cient operations,” said Wilson. “We’re Gatwick’s snow fleet from 47 to 95
and GIP Six Sigma specialists, airfield committed to developing capac- vehicles, which will put our
operations staff and NATS to assess ity at Gatwick in an environmentally snow clearing capability on a par
separation and sequencing of arriving responsible way. A-CDM will allow us
aircraft and taxi time and runway hold- to improve our aircraft stand allocation with that of a similar sized
ing of departing aircraft. processes, traffic flows, taxi times and Scandinavian airport.”
An enabler for optimising sequence reduce congestion. Gatwick is already
and separation, both on the ground the world’s busiest single runway civil
and in the air, is Airport Collaborative aerodrome, and this will lead to moreefficient operations, lower emis-
sions and lower costs for our airlines.
Passengers will benefit from improved
on-time performance and more accu-
rate information on flight information
screens because the software allows
flights to be tracked along the entire
journey, rather than just on approach
or departure.”
Gatwick is building flexibility into
its approach to airfield operations
and developments, engaging with all
airfield users and NATS. In the sum-
mer 2011 season, Gatwick will handle
53 movements per hour during peak
periods on its mixed mode runway
and is looking to identify opportuni-
16 ties to create additional slots without
compromising safety. It is, for example,
monitoring runway occupancy times
and seeking more consistency.
While A-CDM is a tool to help achieve
these goals, process improvement and
regular review of day-to-day operations
take place to address and capture short-
term gains. Wilson also identified the Runway rehabilitation three in spring 2013. This gives us
need for a cultural and behavioural shift. Rehabilitation of Gatwick’s main brand new state-of-the-art major
“A huge amount of time is spent liaising runway will be a 12-18 month project, foam tenders, compliant with future
with other stakeholders at the airport. taking place from spring 2012, and EASA (European Aviation Safety
I chair the ATM Performance Steering with an investment of £43 million. Agency) requirements, and also Euro
Group, working with the airlines, NATS Rehabilitation of the standby runway 5 emission requirements for the
and ground handlers. We make sure has already been completed, in case appliance engines.
there are positive and robust relation- there are any delays when work is “Also, following the first period
ships and we work together to optimise undertaken on the main runway. of snow in late-November 2010,
our airfield operations,” he said. Rehabilitation of the main runway will we made an immediate decision to
Gatwick selected NATS Services to take place through the night, with invest more than £8 million to double
provide an A-CDM web-based portal, 100mm taken off the surface and the size of Gatwick’s snow fleet from
which collates all aircraft information replaced. “We will also replace all 47 to 95 vehicles, which will put our
on to one screen or handheld device, aeronautical ground lighting, cables, snow clearing capability on a par with
including their current position, and power supplies and approach light- that of a similar sized Scandinavian
accurate forecasts of arrival and depar- ing – it will be virtually a brand new airport. Gatwick now has 14 Shorling
ture times. A-CDM will also enable a runway,” said Wilson. “The contrac- snow ploughs for our single runway –
more coordinated response in the event tors will have to be off the runway more than any other airport in
of operational disruption. by the time of the first flight, which the UK.”
is usually at 05:30. We are also These projects are all key elements
using the opportunity to see what is in achieving Gatwick’s primary objec-
required for A380 operations – and tive of ensuring a safe and secure
looking at our runway lead-ons and airfield. While significant change
lead-offs to be Code F compliant. is underway at Gatwick, safety will
Gatwick is currently a diversion- never be compromised. “Our primary
ary status A380 airport, but we are responsibility is safe operations and
investing in infrastructure to accom- a compliant airfield – it is incred-
modate the A380 for the future.” ibly important to all of us in Airside
The airport has already invested Operations. We were audited by the
£40 million in six new widebody UK-CAA in October 2010 and they
stands, two of which are A380- found no non-conformities in terms
compliant, while further significant of our compliance with aerodrome
investment is taking place in the licensing requirements. This gives
The airport has already invested £40
rehabilitation of taxiways, and recon- the whole team and I an incredible
million in six new widebody stands, figuration of stands at North feeling of pride in the standards
two of which are A380-compliant, Terminal. The pier strategy is also we set ourselves and the wider
while further significant investment being reviewed, with Pier 2 undergo- airfield community. We don’t rest
is taking place in the rehabilitation ing reconfiguration. As part of this on our laurels – we always look at
strategy, there will be a larger volume ways in which we can improve, such
of taxiways, and reconfiguration of of stands for Code C aircraft. as investment in new equipment,
stands at North Terminal. “We have also invested £1.8 mil- process improvement and bench-
lion in fire appliances, with three marking against other airports. The
new Rosenbauer Panthers on order. job is never done in terms of safety,”
We will take delivery of another concluded Wilson.17
Eagle provides winter service
e agle Airfield Equipment Ltd is
very proud to have been a
good second-hand machines in Europe
and within a week, with Gatwick’s help,
– Oshkosh Blowers; these will all come
from Overaasen.
A D V E R T I S I N G
working partner of Gatwick had them delivered to the airport for Eagle Airfield is also supplying 20
Airport Ltd since its conception and immediate use with little extra training as Holms 3.5 metre front mounted sweep-
breakaway from BAA. they were the same as their present fleet. ers for John Deere tractors. Eagle will
During last year’s snow of February Following this there became a also supply 9 of its own Ramphog
Eagle Airfield had talks that followed requirement for a new fleet to meet ploughs for use around the terminals.
visits by Gatwick to Scandinavia to see the future operations at the airport and Eagle is also proud to say that the
the operations and products used. Eagle Airfield is pleased to be supply- fleet, both old and new, will use SIB
So, when the call came with the ing some of this new fleet as follows: cassette brushes in both poly and
December snow for extra sweepers, the 9 – R/S 400 Sweepers c/w trucks steel. To this end, Eagle wishes to con-
company was only too willing to do what- & EP 9 Ploughs; 8 – EP 6 Ploughs to tinue this relationship for many years
F E AT U R E
ever was required and so found six very be fitted on existing Unimog units; 2 to come.
if you have a snow problem we have a solution,
from service and maintenance through to
refurbish of your old machines and supply of A D V E R T IS I N G
new and refurbished machines.
F E AT U R E
COntaCt: arthur peake
tel: 01492642201/ mob: 07710806139/ fax: 01492641992
email: eagle@danline.co.uk
eagle airfield equipment limited
eagle-ad-0.5.indd 1 08/03/2011 15:53Achieving operational efficiency
Minimising the impact of the ongoing
construction works and ensuring that the terminal
facilities are fit for everyday operational use is a
fundamental part of the ongoing developments
across Gatwick Airport. Ryan Ghee spoke to
Marcus Stanton, the airport’s head of terminals.
18
w orking with airline
customers and passen-
ger advisory groups is
important to Gatwick’s dedication to
providing the best possible passenger
focus on is the here and now. We now
have a new operating rhythm and
have removed a lot of the bureaucracy
that previously existed.”
experience, especially during the
capital investment programme. Putting the
“Our primary job in a lot of passen-
ger areas is almost to be invisible so
passenger first Gatwick Airport has worked
closely with Norwegian to
that the passenger can carry on their The development of the relationship
journey without hindrance and without between airport and airlines is already implement self-service options
the stress. Our aim is to treat the pas- having a direct benefit for the passen- for the passengers. “We’re
senger as a guest,” Stanton said. ger. For instance, Gatwick is the first extending self-service to
The airport has developed a set of airport in the UK to publish the airlines’ Delta in the North Terminal
passenger commitments, while in- arrivals baggage delivery performance,
house, daily meetings between senior with monthly league tables displayed
and we’re also working with
members of staff have been intro- in the baggage reclaim hall in both easyJet and BA, then moving
duced to ensure the optimisation of terminals and online. on to Thomson,” Stanton said.
operational efficiency. “The airlines might have felt slightly
Stanton said: “I’m closer to the uncomfortable about us displaying this
airlines and the management teams information, but it’s something that
than I have ever been in terms of our we’re not shying away from because
business-to-business relationship. We’re we are putting the passenger first,”
now in a position where we’re talking to Stanton explained. “This is already
each other, rather than at each other. driving a different behaviour. Feedback for passengers flying with Norwegian
“In the daily ops meetings we have from the airlines is driving a better has significantly reduced check-in
about 20 senior managers in the room performance from the handling agents times, with the bag-drop process
and these last about 15 minutes. They and this is having a positive impact on reduced to less than 20 seconds.
tend to be data-driven, and they can the passengers.” “We’re extending self-service to
either be positive or focused on poor The introduction of self-service suites Delta in the North Terminal and we’re
performance, identifying areas that is another area highlighted by Stanton also working with easyJet and BA, then
need to be improved. Previously, we as driving efficiency in the terminals. moving on to Thomson,” Stanton said.
might have had these once a month, The self-service testing lab that has “Our airline partners are now knocking
but now they’re every day and what we been implemented in South Terminal on the door saying that they want to
be part of this.”
Elsewhere, the PRM (Passengers
with Reduced Mobility) manager has
been transferred to an in-house role
to further improve efficiency and fol-
lowing a review of each stage of the
Gatwick is the first passenger journey, around £2 million
airport in the UK to has been spent on wayfinding and
dynamic media.
publish the airlines’ Stanton added: “All of these are
arrivals baggage delivery very important steps to improve the
performance, with efficiency here at Gatwick. We’re aim-
monthly league tables ing to offer a great service to every
single passenger and then, once we’ve
displayed in the baggage achieved that, we’ll develop a passen-
reclaim hall in both ger experience that we can really
terminals and online. be proud of.”Increasing little in improving transaction times,
queuing and therefore departure
concourse capacity. A two-step proc-
check-in capacity
ess allows the potential capacity of
a given baggage input system to be
maximised by reducing the bag drop
without increasing
portion to a minimum. The passen-
ger and tag processes are confined
to kiosks that are relatively cheap
compared to the equipment and
terminal area
complexity of a bag drop unit. Kiosks
can be placed in any part of the flow
routes to the terminal such as car
parks, walkways, concourse, etc and
not be limited to the physical, techno-
logical and cost limitations that bag
drop units are.
Paul Bellamy, Director, Ashcote Consulting Limited Recent experience with Qantas’ new 19
t
bag drops in Australia have seen aver-
age transaction times at the automated
self bag drop reduce to one third of
The scene at check-in in many • Passenger identification, allowance conventional check-in times. This has
airport terminals is similar and security checks; not only eliminated the queues, but
during peak periods: con- • Bag tag printing and fixing; also enabled a significant increase in
gested with queuing passengers. • Dimension and weight checks; terminal capacity without increasing
Despite the widespread use of online • Readability / bag identification the area of the departures concourse.
check-in that should speed the checks - most important to ensure In the future, when queuing on the
A D V E R T I S I N G
process up, those passengers with the bag is identifiable in the down- departures concourse becomes a
bags are still destined to queue stream baggage systems. thing of the past, the whole balance
ahead of a hosted bag drop. Even of the terminal spaces will change.
when these are fully staffed the main These sub-processes can be con- The concourse will no longer have
reason for queues is that transaction ducted in a one-step or two-step to be sized to accommodate long
times are still high at around two process. A one-step solution has a passenger dwell times as it becomes
thirds that of conventional check-in. combined kiosk, bag tag printing and almost a transient space. Removing
This is because the same security bag drop unit, whereas a two-step the traditional check-in bottleneck will
questions, bag tag printing and time separates the time consuming pas- make security search the new restric-
consuming human interaction exists senger acceptance, bag tag printing tion on passenger flow towards the
F E AT U R E
as before. Matching staffing levels and labelling processes from the pure gate and this must be sized accord-
to demand at these bag drops is bag acceptance elements. The first ingly. Ultimately, far more space will
notoriously difficult without adding step processes occur at a kiosk, whilst be required in the departure lounge
significant operational cost and this bag acceptance is conducted at a to cater for the increased dwell times
too tends to exacerbate queuing. dedicated bag drop unit. here. Dramatic reductions in the
Reducing queues and speeding One-step bag drop has many check-in concourse will likely be the
up the baggage acceptance proc- advantages, but is costly and will do source of such space.
A D V E R T IS I N G
ess is important
and is more than
simply a customer
satisfaction issue: it
enables a terminal
to increase
in capacity
without adding
costly space.
Removing the
host and automat-
F E AT U R E
ing the bag drop
will take out some
of the time but can
potentially add
back more through
complex process-
ing and baggage
checks prior to
acceptance. The
key elements of
any automated self
bag drop solution
will include:Under new ownership, Gatwick’s
IT focus is on simplification. The
most immediate challenge has been
separating Gatwick’s systems from
those of the previous owner. Once
that process is complete, the airport
will have half the number of
systems that it had previously, as
Stuart Birrell, chief information
officer, Gatwick Airport, explained.
20
Simplifying IT
w hen Global Infrastructure
Partners (GIP) acquired
Gatwick, it inherited a
staggering 140 IT legacy systems still
operated and managed by BAA. The
systems halved through a combination
of system retirement because the
business does not need them or being
replaced by an integrated SAP system.
The new systems will be rolled-out
new owners are implementing a in phases, with completion
smarter IT approach designed to help by summer 2012.
drive efficient operation and better “Under BAA, all management
service and this will see the inherited IT and decision-making was done at
Heathrow, and all systems were
designed to run a 7-airport opera-
tion. Now that Gatwick is operating
independently we don’t need that
complexity,” explained Birrell. “At the
technology level we will simplify and
rationalise. We can use some of the
newer technologies to cut costs and
simplify. It has been a huge challenge
separating the systems, costing
tens of millions – the scale and
complexity is huge.”
The final changeover will take place
on 1 June 2011, while, significantly,
Birrell received the keys to the Data
Centre and the codes for the network
on 1 February.
Gatwick awarded multi-million
pound IT contracts to three core serv-
ice suppliers, Logica, Xchanging and
Computacenter, enabling it to take
full control of its IT systems and sup-
Norwegian’s successful self-service trial in the South Terminal highlights the port critical airport improvements. It
significant changes taking place in terms of the passenger journey and check- enables Gatwick to operate as a fully
standalone airport and means it can
in experience at Gatwick. 85% of the airline’s passengers have been using the operate an IT system that best meets
self-service kiosks, while 50% of passengers also use self bag tagging. the needs of its business. Leading
edge technology and systems will
bring best practice in global airport
operations to Gatwick.Gatwick is really flying,
and we’re helping them do I.T.
With their first class I.T. infrastructure
managed by ‘yours truly’, you could say
the sky’s the limit.
To discover how Xchanging can help transform your business, talk to us:
020 8875 6502 solutions@xchanging.com
Global Business Processing www.xchanging.comThe new owners – Global
Infrastructure Partners
– are implementing a
smarter IT approach
designed to help drive
efficient operation and
better service and this
will see the inherited IT
systems halved through
a combination of system
retirement because the
business does not need
them or being replaced by
22 an integrated SAP system.
sight, behind hoardings, but passen- is about making a more robust solu-
Enhancing the gers can download a free ‘Stickybits’ tion, integrating with web services
passenger experience mobile application and go on a coded
‘Gatwick Discovery Tour’, enjoying an
and e-commerce.”
New, innovative technologies are
An innovative element of the cur- audiovisual peek behind the scenes being installed in the central secu-
rent developments at Gatwick is the at how the airport is changing. “It can rity search area. Gatwick is looking at
‘Stickybits’ initiative. It is the first influence the enjoyment and experi- technologies such as automated gates
airport in the world to use the giant ence of passengers,” commented and advanced CCTV. There will also be
mobile barcodes to help communicate Birrell. “We have also gone ‘live’ with a dynamic messaging to passengers –
the £1 billion investment programme new booking system for parking – we regarding queues, for example.
to passengers. Most of the infra- bought the system as a service from “Central search is very much about
structure work is taking place out of APCOA. The role of IT is changing – it productivity in terms of passenger flow
and experience – making the passen-
ger experience much more positive,”
said Birrell. As part of this initiative to
enhance the passenger experience,
the Norwegian check-in area has been
enhanced with images of Norway,
while there are similarly images of
Dubai at the Emirates check-in area.
Additionally, both Emirates and Delta
have large video walls in the North
Terminal. “Passengers are increasingly
tech-savvy – it is important to pro-
vide them with access to technology,”
explained Birrell.
Norwegian’s successful self-service
trial in the South Terminal highlights
the significant changes taking place
in terms of the passenger journey and
check-in experience at Gatwick. 85%
of the airline’s passengers have been
using the self-service kiosks, while 50%
of passengers also use self bag tag-
ging. According to Birrell, self-tagging
will become ubiquitous, particularly
among regular travellers and business
Most of the infrastructure work is taking place out of sight, behind travellers, who very quickly take to
hoardings, but passengers can download a free ‘Stickybits’ mobile application such new technologies.
As a standalone business, Gatwick
and go on a coded ‘Gatwick Discovery Tour’, enjoying an audiovisual peek is rolling out leading edge technol-
behind the scenes at how the airport is changing. ogy and systems to enhance the
passenger experience and optimise
passenger flow, which will make it a
showcase airport.You can also read
