Heathrow Airport rtins ssngr, rg, and irfild - Case Study Example

Running Head: АIRРОRT ОРЕRАTIОNS – РАSSЕNGЕR, САRGО & АIRFIЕLD Name Course Instructor Date Review of London Heathrow Heathrow Airport is the busiest airport in Europe based on passenger traffic and across the United Kingdom. The airport is ranked as the 5th busiest airport across the globe based on the total passenger traffic (Ballis, 2015). In the year 2014, the airport recorded a passenger traffic of 73.4 million people which was 1.4% increase from the previous year. The airport is operated and owned by Heathrow Airport Holdings which is owned by FGP Topco Limited, which is an international consortium led by the Spanish Ferrovial Group. Heathrow is generally considered to be a hub for British Airways and offers a main operational base for the Virgin Atlantic (Ballis, 2015). Airline Operations The airport is used by over ninety airlines which fly to one hundred and seventy destinations across the globe. The two most predominate airlines in this airport are British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. Heathrow has a cargo terminal and four passenger’s terminals (Ballis, 2015). The airport has the most single busiest destination from New York with over three million passengers flying between John F. Kennedy International Airport and Heathrow Airport. Route Network Served Aircraft destined for Heathrow airport normally enter its airspace through one of four main reporting points namely; Bovingdon over Hertforshire, Lambourne over Essex, Biggin over Bromley and Ockham over Surrey. Each of the main reporting points is defined by a radio navigational beacon. Geographical Location The airport lies 12 nautical miles west of central London and it has two parallel East and West runways beside with 4 operational terminals on a land that covers 12.14 square kilometers. The geographical location of the airport has a significant both globally and regionally as it has been providing important regional and global connections as well as supporting vital movements of freight in and out of the United Kingdom. The location further places the airport as the most deliverable solution to the United Kingdom airport capacity issues due to the fact that it builds on one of the United Kingdom strongest national assets. Further, the airport occupies a uniquely attractive catchment area and therefore, airlines are able to fly more first-class seats per aircraft from Heathrow as compared to any other known hub (Ballis, 2015). Heathrow is located at the center of a broad network of road and rail links that no other United Kingdom airport can achieve such a detailed connectivity. About 25% of its passengers get to Heathrow within 30 minutes. Competition from other airports The UK airport industry is considered to be a striking investment option for many investing companies due to its increasing market growth rates. The history of ownership of the United Kingdom airports largely defines the competitiveness within this industry (Ballis, 2015). It is observed that the concentration ration of operators across the UK airport is considerably higher as compared to many other countries in Europe and across the globe. Regulation by CAA ensures that there is fair competition and assist in preventing monopoly by other airports. Socio, economic and environmental considerations It is quite evident that Heathrow provides valuable social and economic benefits. According to Gordijn and Kolkman (2011), the airport has various impacts on the local communities as well as the environment it surrounds. As a world class Airport, Heathrow is tasked into finding the right balance between social, economic and environmental objectives through enhancing the airport positive impacts while at the same time minimizing negative impacts through meeting all the agreed environmental impacts. Base on the economic and social benefits, Heathrow aims at; i. Establishing a safe and secure airport for the staff, passengers and airport community ii. Enable effective achievement of economic and social effects iii. Has a surface access which limit congestion and local effects iv. Seek to reduce or prevent significant effects on communities and the larger environment Based on environment the airport has set various long term goals on environment namely; i. Climate change: reducing carbon emission by 34% by the year 2020 ii. Noise: Limit and where possible reduce impacts of aircraft noise at within the airport iii. Air Quality: engaging in full compliance with the European Union air quality limits iv. Waste: engage in recycling about 70% of the airport waste The long term goals by the airport are largely supported by strategies that set out the investments and actions required by business functions and units as well as the annual performance targets. There are projects that are designed to deliver specific environmental benefit such as improvement of the airfield efficiency. Challenges affecting the airport According to Gordijn and Kolkman (2011), despite being among the world busiest airport that is highly connected, there are various challenges affecting this airport. It is quite evident that growth in passenger demand at the airport will be modest over the coming years, already Heathrow operates near capacity with periods of traffic congestion extending beyond traditional peak hours. Due to this, bottlenecks on wider local road network results to delay to staff and passengers. The airport normally generates from freight movements and passengers with the highest demand being drop off from taxis and single occupancy vehicles. According to Gordijn and Kolkman (2011), in connection to the traffic congestion, the airport experiences baggage problem due to lack of an efficient baggage tracking system. As a result of loss baggage due to faulty baggage system as well as the problem of transferring them over one terminal to another which result to cancelation or delayed flights (Forsyth,et al, 2010). CARGO Airside access (location of terminals, run way and taxiway network and passenger terminals, cargo terminals) Small airports have one terminal that serves all functions of a terminal and a concourse, this is not the case with Heathrow Airport which is known to serve several terminals. Many terminals across the airport widely allow smooth the progress of simplification on various functions like purchasing of tickets, transfer of luggage and going through security. Within the airport, run ways are very busy with planes landing and taking off at close intervals ( Bilotkach and Mueller, 2012). According to Bilotkach and Mueller (2012), the runways have ample space and where they intersect there is a clear line of sight. There are adequate taxiway network within the airport which ensure the flexibility of aircraft movement in the airport. Taxiways in Heathrow l function as the paved networks between runways and aprons for aircrafts. his design is complex in the management of transfers and costs Size and throughput Air cargo through Heathrow accounts to almost a quarter of United Kingdom with non European Union Countries by value. The airport serves at least seventy nine destinations directly with cargo operation linking with many others. Each year 1.3 million tonnes of cargo pass through this airport accounting for about 474,000 air transport movement per year. In the year 2007, the airport was ranked as the 4th biggest airport in term of cargo operation after Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt and Schipol. It is estimated that over 80 airlines carry cargo in and out of the airport. The air cargo for Heathrow accounts for about 8% and 15% of their revenue (Forsyth,et al, 2010). The biggest air cargo carries within the airport are British Airways, Worl cargo, KLM cargo, Lufthansa Cargo amd American Airlines. Level of design and mechanization With increase competition within the Europe airports, Heathrow have developed new designs that will largely accommodate many tones of cargo separating passenger landslide from cargo and other commercial vehicle areas. The mechanization as well as the design of the Heathrow airport largely depends on the air traffic being handled at the airport at that particular time. For the airport, it is quite evident that potentially heavy capitalization of air freight is an attractive way of decreasing labor cost that normally form a main percentage of the terminal handling cost making the airport a choice for many business related cargo. Handling facilities/special handling and operators At Heathrow airport there are various handling operator for the airport cargo. In Heathrow handling facilities are mainly in the form of power propelled conveyor belts that are normally fed at the landward by grabs which may usually be magnetic to carry a larger capacity. For the movement of liquid, the cargo handling is in term of pipelines that are usually connected to the shore base of the airport storage tank. Generally, the cargo within the airport is containerized. General cargo in the airport is handled by cranes that are normally on the quay. Review of Amsterdam Schiphol Airport The airport is located in Netherlands about 4.9 nautical miles South West of Amsterdam. The airport is built as one large terminal which has been split into 3 large departure halls. The airport is a hub for KLM airlines and as a base for EasyJet and Vueling.The airport was initially opened as a military base and after the end of the 1st World War; the airport was opened to civilian use. The airport 6 runways have been used to handle more than 400,000 airport movements, serving nearly over 50 million passengers and approximately more than 1 million tonnes of cargo(European Union, 2009). These numbers makes the airport the 4th largest airport across Europe after Heathrow, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Frankfurt, in term of passenger capacity, 5th largest based on air transport and 3rd in term of cargo. Across the globe, the airport is ranked among the top 20 busiest airports. Location The Schiphol Airport is located in Netherlands which has a developed advance transport and communication infrastructure. The location of the airport is famous across the globe due to it the fact that it leads in technology and effective management of many fields of industries such as electronic, transportation and telecom system. It ca n therefore be concluded that Schiphol location gives it a market power for provision of infrastructure for airlines that specially provides traffic transfers. Socio, economic and Environmental considerations The Netherlands with focus on the Schiphol is known as the gate of the Europe due to its predominant geographical location. It has an open and flourishing economic which largely depends on foreign trade delivered through the Schiphol airport (European Union, 2009). The advanced communication infrastructure and fully developed logistic services as well as increased support from the government creates an attractive environment in Schiphol airport making the airport one of the most favorable economic environment for conducting business among all European countries. The airport is known o conduct business with respect for the environment, people and surrounding areas. The airport believes that it can only be in a position to expand and grow in business if the community surrounding the airport is involved in matters concerning the airport expansion. The airport works together with this community to keep a balance between the consideration of the environment, people and profit. Challenges affecting the airport European Union (2009) maintains that, transport hubs such as Amsterdam Schiphol are very crucial in building the Dutch economy. The competition in transport industry is intense and more global and such an hub requires transformation to compete with the rest of the world. Currently, among the biggest challenges facing Schiphol is the question of how to increase without causing major noise and environment pollution, while at this same time maintain safety to the passengers, cargo and staffs. The airport is grappling with finding sustainable ways of enhancing air transport. CARGO Level of mechanization within the terminal cargo The design and mechanization of Amsterdam cargo terminal depends mainly on type of air traffic handled in the airport. Thus, the concept chosen for the design of the terminal depended on factors such as the number of participating airlines, the type and size of the traffic demand, traffic split between the various flights and available financial resources. The main fundamental choices are either the centralized or decentralized processing in which many design solutions fall. For the centralized concept, elements in the sequence of passenger processing are conducted in one central area. With decentralization, functions are spread over the different centers in the terminal complex. Schiphol airport has centralized processing with a common pier fingers, pier satellites and remote satellites. According to Bilotkach and Mueller (2012), these central terminals combined with pier fingers are efficient for large volumes of passengers who are normally received in this airport. With pier satellites the terminals are more elaborate, therefore the system operates more as a series of unit terminals while for terminals with remote satellites the satellites are connected by mechanized forms of transport above or below the aprons. Special cargo handling facilities Within the Amsterdam international airport cargo handling is based on different cargo category. Classification of cargo includes the special cargo which includes those perishable goods, live animals and dangerous goods. Advance requirements are required to ensure the handling staffs are alerted. Perishable goods are those that go bad within a short period of time and to facilitate their handling capacity there has been installation of cold rooms within the airport cargo terminals. Particularly such cold room facilities facilitate the Schiphol airport cargo terminals capacity to handle different ranges of perishables. According to Bilotkach and Mueller (2012), they have a flexible system to cater for the specific temperature requirements of the cargo. It varies from a 2° C cooler, 8° C cooler and a 0°C chiller to a -25°C freezer. For the live animals the owner should comply with the live animal regulations. Besides, various regulations on guidelines regarding documentation, labeling and handling recommendations as well as the design elements of the containers have been put in place within the airport cargo terminals. In the storage of valuable goods security escort is provided and surveillance at all the handling stages. Storage is provided in secured areas that prevent unauthorized access. According to Bilotkach and Mueller (2012), dangerous goods such as weapons, fireworks and flammable liquids or solids are regulated in transportation. Cargo handling facilities and operators According to Bilotkach and Mueller (2012), cargo handling involves the handling, packing and documentation of cargo. Different types of cargo require different facilities to handle them. Thus, in handling these cargo facilities such as trucks, halls for express shipments, bonded warehouses and freighter handling services have been put in place in Amsterdam international airport. For freighter handling facilities, the airport has a skilled ground handler to handle all cargo and provide the most reliable and efficient handling service that is safe and saves on time. Almost all airports handle both cargo and passengers with relatively few pure cargo airports (Ballis, 2015). For cargo operations, airports are categorized as hub or feeder airports. The hub airport is located near major population centers for access to a significant amount of inbound and outbound cargo. In feeder airports the hub and spoke system is used. It involves the long haul of international routes in the larger aircraft. Terminal cargo and size throughput According to Bilotkach and Mueller (2012), within the Amsterdarm international airport generally cargo terminals varies in size depending on the type of cargo executed in a specific terminal. The container terminal capacity depends on the number, size and type of containers to be manipulated including the number of loading and off-loading done per day. These factors in effect determines the size and number of the depot lanes, the type and number of cargo handling equipment, the number of railway trucks and road traffic routes. According to Bilotkach and Mueller (2012), the throughput analysis covers ground movement field throughput, traffic and terminal throughput, passenger terminal throughput and environmental throughput. Particularly in Schiphol airport throughput is based on the forecasting of passenger, the number of operations and the flow of cargo. The daily ground movement field throughput is calculated on the basis of departures and arrivals to ensure there is consistency in number of passengers arriving and those departing. The environmental throughput is the maximum number of operations that are permitted on a daily basis within this airport. Airside access (location of terminals, run way and taxiway network and passenger terminals, cargo terminals) According to Bilotkach and Mueller (2012), while Small airports have one terminal that serves all functions of a terminal and a concourse, this is not the case with Amsterdam which has several terminals. Such terminals facilitate simplification on various functions like purchasing of tickets, transfer of luggage and going through security. In Amsterdam, run ways are very busy with planes landing and taking off at close intervals. According to Bilotkach and Mueller (2012), the runways have ample space and where they intersect there is a clear line of sight. There are adequate taxiway network within the airport which ensure the flexibility of aircraft movement in the airport. Taxiways in this Schiphol function as the paved networks between runways and aprons for aircrafts. Cargo terminals are on the opposite sides of the field from the passenger terminals meaning that the cargo transported in the passenger aircraft has to be moved across the airport. This design is complex in the management of transfers and costs. References Ballis, A. (2015). Overview of air cargo terminal design aspects. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board. Bilotkach, V. and Mueller, J. (2012) “Supply Side Substitutability and Potential Market Power of Airports: Case of Amsterdam Schiphol”, Utilities Policy, 23(C), 5–12. European Union (2009) “Directive 2009/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on airport charges”, Offi cial Journal of the European Union, 14.3.2009, L 70/11. Forsyth, P., Gillen, D., Mueller, J. and Niemeier, H.-M. (eds) (2010) Airport Competition, Ashgate Publishing. Gordijn, H., and Kolkman, J. (2011) Eff ects of the Air Passenger Tax. Behavioral responses of passengers, airlines and airports. KiM Netherlands Institute for Transport Policy Analysis. Read More