Birmingham Airport
On 23 September, the airport broke the 13 million passenger mark for the first time ever in a rolling 12 months
Birmingham has launched a new Twitter flight information service. Working with TIC, the new service, known as BizTweet, allows passengers to receive real-time updates via their Twitter feed at each step of their journey, from the opening of check-in to flight departure. In addition to receiving flight information, other operational and commercial information will be delivered highlighting important information and offers.
Brussels Airport
18% growth in the first eight months of 2017 saw 16.6 million passengers handled
Brussels Airport Company was awarded the European EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) airport certificate. This way it becomes the first airport in Belgium to receive the certification. Airports receive an EASA airport certificate when the infrastructure and the operational aviation processes of the airport meet the legal and regulatory safety requirements. With the award of the EASA certificate, the regulators confirm that Brussels Airport Company is able to closely monitor its safety level and is working towards continuous improvement.
Faro Airport
Was Portugal’s fastest-growing airport in 2016 – up 18.5% to over 7 million passengers
Portugal’s Faro Airport has unveiled its newly expanded passenger terminal. The airport has invested €32.8 million on increasing the size of the complex from 81,200sqm to 93,120sqm, which operator, ANA, reveals has allowed it to expand and update the terminal’s retail, security and operational facilities. It has also allowed the airport to improve security through the opening of new control areas, a move ANA says will “maintain high safety standards and an adequate level of quality of service”.
Dublin Airport
Welcomed 20 million passengers in the first eight months of 2017 (+6%)
A new Air Traffic Control Tower Simulator was installed at Dublin Airport. The second such installation in Europe will be the platform for all future aerodrome training for Irish Aviation Authority. The expansion will serve to manage the increased training demand from Dublin ATC operations to handle the ever increasing airport traffic. It will also provide a state-of-the-art tower simulator to support the most intricate extra training requirements and procedure evaluation for the proposed new runway for 2020.
Barcelona-El Prat Airport
Grew by 7.9% in the first eight months of 2017 to 32 million passengers
Passengers at El-Prat Airport are receiving a virtual greeting to improve the customer journey. An optical illusion of a real person has been created at the security gates to make the process smoother and help to improve the overall passenger experience. Detailed information, given by the assistant, ensures passengers arrive at the checkpoint with all their belongings ready for inspection. The virtual assistant speaks five languages: Catalán, Castilian Spanish, English, Russian and Chinese.
Helsinki Airport
A record 18.5 million passengers are expected in 2017 (2016: 17.2m)
Helsinki Airport is now carbon neutral! It has been awarded the Airport Carbon Accreditation certificate at Level 3+ Neutrality. The reduction of carbon dioxide emissions to zero has been achieved through vigorous efforts that have been continuing for many years. In addition, the largest airport solar power plant in the Nordic area is under construction at the airport. When operational, the power plant will have a total capacity of more than 500 kWp. It will supply almost 10% of all the electricity required by the new terminal extensions. In July, Finavia started using renewable diesel fuel in vehicles operating at the airport.
Pulkovo Airport
Saw a 25% traffic increase in the first seven months of 2017 to over 9 million passengers
A consortium of international investors has acquired a 25% stake in Thalita Trading, the holding company of the Northern Capital Gateway that manages Pulkovo International Airport in St. Petersburg, Russia. The consortium comprises Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia-China Investment Fund, Mubadala Development Co., Baring Vostok Private Equity Fund V and a number of related funds (Baring Vostok), as well as leading co-investors from the Middle East.
Billund Airport
Handled almost 350,000 passengers in August (+6.9%)
Billund Airport has installed a passenger flow system from Danish IoT company Blip Systems to improve the airport experience for commuters and holidaymakers. Previously, the airport used the BlipTrack queue measurement system to measure queue and dwell times, and ensure crowds are moving seamlessly. Now, Billund has expanded the platform to include information on how passengers move through the airport, providing insights into their behaviour during that time.
Warsaw Chopin Airport
Experienced its best-ever month in July, handling 1.7 million passengers (+25%)
To keep up with the dynamic development of air services, including new intercontinental flights and non-Schengen destinations, the Warsaw Airport has been extending the passport control area. As many as 18 new stands were made available for departing passengers, almost doubling the capacity of the area. With the comfort of all passengers in mind, two stands have been designed to meet the needs of disabled persons and every stand has been equipped with induction loops to facilitate the communication of the hearing-impaired with staff.
Rhodes Airport
So far in 2017, traffic at the 14 Fraport Greece airports has grown 10.4% to 19.7 million passengers
Fraport Greece chief Alexander Zinell promised that the Rhodes Diagoras Airport will be upgraded. The plans presented include the construction of a new fire station, the renovation of the terminal building and the restructuring of the airport apron. There will also be some considerable interventions aimed at improving services, e.g. increasing the number of check-in points from 40 to 45, gates from 16 to 18 and the luggage conveyor belts from four to five, as well as expanding the apron by 29%.
Athens Airport
14.5 million passengers welcomed between January and August (+8.1%)
At Athens Airport, two IoT tech companies, Ex Machina and Libelium, have teamed up to help the airport keep an eye on pollutant levels and the location of aircraft. The first challenge involved the monitoring and analysis of concentrations of air pollutants such as ozone and particulate matter. The second challenge was to detect aircraft location during take-off in a non-intrusive way. Further to this successful pilot, Athens International Airport is now examining other possible use cases with Ex Machina as it evolves towards ‘Airport 3.0’.
