Istanbul is now home to an aviation super force which is set to become the largest airport in the world. Zoe Mutter visited the new travel hub to examine how technology is being integrated on an epic scale to improve the passenger experience.
A new aviation megastructure has been unveiled in Turkey, powered by audio visual solutions. Boasting a 1.4 million square metre main terminal building, two runways, an air traffic control tower, support buildings and a 53,000 square metre duty-free zone, the new Istanbul Airport is a construction triumph as well as a masterpiece of architectural design and technological integration. A selection of the technical partners helping create the landmark project were based in Turkey, including Vestel, the multi-industry manufacturer which provided and installed 3,150 displays across the site.
The airport was officially opened by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in early April, at a high-profile ceremony celebrating the completion of the project’s first phase and marking 42 months of extensive planning, construction and integration carried out by a skilled team of 200,000. AV Magazine visited the facility soon after the opening ceremony to talk to the team behind one of the of the largest aviation projects in history and to experience first-hand the travel hub which is now capable of serving 90 million passengers a year.
The project – which began in 2015 – forms part of wider development plans for Istanbul which include the construction of a third bridge across the Bosphorus waterway in 2016 and plans to create a large canal. With three more phases of the monumental airport development still to come, its growth is set to continue further. In 2027, when the facility is completed, it will claim the title of the world’s biggest airport, spread across 76.5 million square metres and serving 200 million passengers a year from four terminals and six runways.
A technologically advanced passenger journey
Embarking on constructing the colossal travel hub from scratch was a hefty but necessary task. After 86 years of operation, Atatürk Airport, located 30km away, could no longer cope with the volume of passengers passing through. Replacing Atatürk with a new technologically advanced airport with all facilities located under one roof would deliver improved global connectivity and make transfers easier leading to a more seamless passenger experience.
Whilst putting Turkey on the map as a prime location and a passenger terminal where East meets West, the facility will accommodate Turkish Airlines’ growth plans and be used as a hub by new longer-range aircraft such as the Airbus 350 XWB and the Boeing 777.
At the beginning of April, ahead of the big reveal, the complex logistical task of transferring the complete operation across from Atatürk was carried out. More than 10,000 pieces of equipment were moved to the new Istanbul Airport in an astonishing 45 hours, allowing Turkish Airlines flights to arrive and depart from the new hub a mere two days after the switchover began. But prior to this huge undertaking, extensive installation processes were taking place behind the scenes at the Istanbul Airport site.
Turkey’s mega project
Aside from admiring the spectacular design of the facility’s interior, passengers can now enjoy a technologically advanced experience as they make their way from check-in, through security and on to duty free. Audiovisual systems play a significant part in the travel, shopping and dining experience alongside emerging innovations such as robots, artificial intelligence, facial recognition and beacon technology.
Display technology is essential in informing passengers and enhancing their journey through the airport. Following an in-depth tender and purchasing process back in 2015 the technical team at iGA Systems – which was founded in 2018 to handle the ICT infrastructure, aviation systems design and implementation for Istanbul Airport – selected a total of 1,300, 49-inch and 1,850 55-inch Vestel displays to present a variety of information and advertising content throughout the luggage area, departure and arrival lounges, check-in desks and security gates. iGA Systems worked closely with hand-picked partners such as Vestel to deliver the required technological solutions for each area of the facilities.
Prior to experiencing the newly opened airport, we visited Vestel’s enormous factory away in Manisa, Turkey, to see the R&D department at the heart of the 1.1 million square metre Vestel City in action. During the tour Atinc Ogut, product manager, visual solutions, Vestel provided some insight into the steps required to complete the mammoth transport installation: “It was a tough challenge because it is one of the most prestigious aviation projects in the world, especially as it was constructed from scratch rather than being part of an expansion.”
During the tender process each company putting their products forward for consideration supplied a sample unit which was tested for three months in the airport environment to see if it was compatible with the software and how quickly it responded to flight information changes. “The cosmetic look and feel, picture quality, brightness and colour were also assessed,” adds Ogut. “It was an important part of the overall project so I went to the construction site more than 10 times to talk with clients, run workshops throughout the tender process and assist during the purchasing.”
The airport team had specific requests in terms of the size of displays and required a mixture of 49-inch and 55-inch screens. Brightness level was also key as the screens would be located in all-glass areas and they needed a surface treatment to cope with reflections to ensure flight information was clearly visible. Due to the amount of dust in the luggage area dust-proof casing was a necessity to protect the displays from the small particles in that environment. Therefore, Vestel developed bespoke IP51 casings for 200 of the screens to be placed inside.
A slim design was a prerequisite for all screens but in certain areas they needed to sit flush against the wall to fit in with the designer’s vision: “Due to the preference of the architects we required some unconventional installations, some of which included displays hidden in the walls, especially in the control centres,” says Volkan Gungor, aviation systems manager, iGA Systems. “Vestel created a new tailor-made slim design to suit.”
To display the flight information Vestel built a PC module into the screens and worked with software provider IKUSI to develop bespoke flight information software. “The software receives the raw data and translates it into a usable format that can be displayed in the airport, updating in real time,” explains Ogut. “This is all managed centrally 24/7 by IKUSI across more than 3,150 screens.”
“Normally you don’t see this kind of high-end PC as an OPS device – the products we are using here are very high performance,” adds Gungor. “At the moment we are only using 20 per cent of the PC’s capabilities so I don’t think we will need to change them for five or six years. And thanks to the OPS technology, if it requires higher performance we can swap the PC with a more advanced model and still use the same monitors.”
Installation of the fleet of screens was completed by a 15-strong team from Vestel and four of their specialists were on site to offer after sales support and maintenance. “It was a gradual process that lasted a year and a half,” says Ogut. “Some parts of the airport were constructed and then we installed some of the screens. Protecting the products across the huge site over this period of time was a challenge.”
Gungor agrees the project’s size placed additional pressure on the team: “When working at this scale it’s not always possible to complete every part of the project according exactly to the initial plan so we needed partners that were flexible.
“The environment during construction was also quite rough for indoor electronic devices to cope with so I was impressed by the Vestel monitors’ performance – I don’t think all brands could withstand those conditions. There was lots of dust and the building was warmer than the operating temperature as the HVAC system was not working in some parts of the building in the early stages, but the screens still survived.”
The greatest challenge was the sheer quantity of screens being deployed, adds Gungor: “You need to be able to trust the technology you use in the terminal. There is a basic saying in Turkish: ‘you should mount it and forget about it,” and that was one reason we opted to use Vestel products. Based on the requirements I expect we will install a further 35 per cent additional screens in the following phases of the development.”
The airport’s control centres also feature Vestel solutions including similar displays to the flight information screens and seven videowalls made up of around 150, 55-inch displays. Elsewhere, the aviation tower is equipped with Vestel videowalls delivering real time video from multiple cameras positioned around the airport.
Designing a high-flying aesthetic facility
Although technology is at the heart of the ambitious project the stunning facility boasts an aesthetic splendour produced by Pininfarina, the Italian design firm renowned for creating designs for Ferrari, and US design company, AECOM. Their creative vision has resulted in an extraordinary, modern and almost futuristic aviation space. The height of the space and abundance of natural light shining through the grand ceiling arches makes an immediate impression on passengers upon entering the terminal. Selected for their experience in lighting and daylight design, Hoare Lea and lighting designer Juan Ferrari worked with the architects and interior designers to create a lighting solution that was sympathetic to the scale and unique design, which is accentuated by skylights and a vaulted ceiling featuring geometric shapes.
“Given the scale of the airport, we knew that we needed monitors that would be clear and easy to read from greater distances. The bright Istanbul sunshine in the all-glass terminals make this even more of a challenge which is why the choice of displays needed to be carefully considered,” says Gungor.
“Atatürk Airport was also restrictive, the ceiling was not very high and it was congested. Although more passengers are passing through the new airport now the design and size of the building creates a greater feeling of space. The height of this building is impressive – we call the people that worked on its construction mountaineers.”
The single terminal airport is also home to a seven-section 53,000 square metre duty free zone, the design of which was inspired by the Bosphorus strait. Meanwhile, the look of the air traffic control tower – another hub of innovation – was inspired by Istanbul’s national symbol, the tulip. The 90-metre-tall tower was also designed by Pininfarina and AECOM.
Elevating the aviation industry
Having undertaken the design, installation, integration, and implementation of technology at the airport, the 780-strong team at iGA Systems is now responsible for the five main systems – infrastructure, security, aviation, business operations and software development, using national systems developed by domestic engineers.
H. Kadri Samsunlu, chief executive officer and general manager of İGA Airport Operation, believes İstanbul Airport will serve as a technology base, become one of the smartest airports in the world and a major incubation centre for the aviation industry. “Our ultimate aim is to transfer the technological experience created at the Istanbul Airport to other airports that will be built in the country and the region thanks to Turkey’s growth thrust, to nationalise technology and boost technology exports. In addition to that, we want to build and operate smart building systems in Turkey and across the region,” he said.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) 20-year passenger forecast report shows four billion people travelled in 2017 and the number is expected to double in 2036, reaching 7.8 billion. According to Samsunlu, this projection is testament to the need for larger airports, comprising more modern structures that are capable of offering the latest technology services.
Ersin İnankul, general manager and CIO, İGA Systems is confident his team can become the world’s largest company to offer airport services of this scale: “We have developed a range of software for the Istanbul Airport, from mobile applications to boost passenger satisfaction and airport security systems to an airline messaging platform and a joint decision-making system. We are also working on systems such as the first airport data centre in the world, the first virtual tower application in Turkey, domestic robots and unmanned passenger transfer vehicles. The domestic and national technologies we develop here will set an example for all airports in the world.”
“The robots are compatible with our displays and can show flight information or where a check in point is, offering a multi-faceted way-finding solution. The advanced infrastructure at the airport allows the systems to work together,” adds Vestel’s Ogut.
Gungor adds: “At the terminal entrance level there are management screens which monitor the queues on the X-ray control points. AI logic is working within the system too alongside human intervention and based on the outputs the cameras gather from the queues we have constant control accuracy.”
When the building gets bigger there is more chance passengers might get lost so iGA Systems offers a mobile app equipped with a location finder. “Aside from that we plan to use beacon technology around the terminal. You can also use a mobile application and RFID NFC scanner to scan a barcode to display information such as nearby shops.”
With the completion of the first phase alone the airport is home to three data centres, 102 integrated systems, 467 servers, 780 telecommunication rooms, 3,267 flight information display systems, 4,549 computers and 9,000 security cameras. Its fibre optic wiring is 1,700km long while the copper wiring is 4,500km – the distance between Istanbul and New Delhi. As further phases are completed the project will continue to excel as a technological landmark for Turkey and help elevate aviation innovation on a global scale.
source : https://www.avinteractive.com/features/case-studies/a-soaring-success-23-06-2019/