Check-in 3 enhances VIE’s green credentials

Vienna International Airport's new terminal.

Jäger: “In the new terminal, we have tried to integrate technological solutions for more environmental sustainability.”

The opening of the new terminal in June marked a major milestone for Vienna International Airport. Covering 76,000sqm, Check-in 3 has doubled the airport’s area and increased annual capacity to 30 million. Also of significance is the fact that this has been achieved in an environmentally friendly manner to ensure that increased passenger throughput and aircraft movements do not lead to drastically increased carbon emissions.

“Climate protection is a major issue for Vienna Airport and we focus on several activities,” Jäger said. “In the new terminal, we have tried to integrate technological solutions for more environmental sustainability.”

One of the main features is the installation of two glass layers for the façade of the building. This helps to ensure that energy loss is reduced and as the need for air conditioning is also reduced, this achieves significant cost savings. “In order to achieve this effect, the outer glass layer is darker to gain a ‘sunglasses’ effect. The result is maximum transparency with a minimum cost of energy,” Jäger added.

While new technology is central to Check-in 3’s green values, the design itself makes best use of available space so that the need for future expansion at the airport is minimised.

By using three separate storeys – one each for Schengen, non-Schengen and Arrivals – located under one roof, the terminal boasts inbuilt operational flexibility. This, along with the segregation of arriving and departing passengers as required by EU law, also means that all passenger check-ins can take place in the same area of the terminal.

Elsewhere on the airport site, Vienna International Airport’s dedication to sustainability is evident. “We run about 74 CNG (compressed natural gas)-driven cars, which makes Vienna Airport one of the biggest CNG-driven carpools in Austria.”

In 2011, a dedicated energy efficiency group was also established to reduce energy consumption across the airport site. Public transport links have also been enhanced – particularly via the City Airport Train – and a cycle path for use by the airport’s employees is currently under construction.

While each of these initiatives may make a small difference to the airport’s environmental impact, together they create significant emissions savings and play an important role in Vienna International Airport’s ambition to be recognised as one of the industry’s best environmental performers.

Going the extra mile in Brazil

Computer generated concept of the new proposed terminal at Viracopos–Campinas International Airport.

The new terminal at Viracopos–Campinas International Airport needs to be complete in time for the 2014 World Cup, which will be held in Brazil.

Brazil’s Viracopos–Campinas International Airport is bursting at the seams. In the past three years the number of passengers has surged from one million to more than seven million, with no sign of an end to the growth. A new terminal urgently needs to be built to absorb the massive increase in passenger numbers. Airport experts at NACO, Netherlands Airport Consultants have been working together with specialists from parent company Royal HaskoningDHV and other Dutch companies to produce the basic design for the first phase of the terminal development and the master plan for the entire airport for the coming 30 years.

Netherlands Airport Consultants’ client is the Consórcio Aeroportos Brasil consortium that recently purchased the airport concession from the Brazilian Federal government. Near-term expansion is essential because of Brazil’s rapid economic growth and its forthcoming hosting of the World Cup soccer tournament in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016.

“The terminal has to be ready in 2014 when the World Cup will be held in Brazil,” said NACO’s local representative Peter Vorage. “So we need to go the extra mile to meet this schedule.”

The contract also includes designing the car park and landside roads, special airport systems, baggage handling systems and installations. The new terminal’s 28 gates will allow it to handle 14 million passengers in 2014.


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