The $12 billion facility will be one of the world’s biggest when it opens in 2019.
Jason Lee REUTERS
(BEIJING) — China’s capital unveiled the “shining example” of its 80 billion yuan ($12.14 billion) new airport on Monday, tipped to become one of the world’s largest when it opens in October 2019 amid a massive infrastructure drive overseen by President Xi Jinping.
Representatives showed off the sprawling skeleton of “Beijing New Airport”, which is made up of 1.6 million cubic metres of concrete, 52,000 tonnes of steel and spans a total 47 sq km (18 sq miles), including runways.
It is expected to serve an initial 45 million passengers a year with an eventual capacity of 100 million, putting it on par with Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
“Lined up together there’s roughly 5 km of gates,” said project spokesman Zhu Wenxin. “It’s a shining example of China’s national production capacity.”
Updates on the airport come as the ruling Communist Party is set to open its 19th congress later this week, a twice-a-decade leadership event where Xi will consolidate power and emphasise successful projects and policy from his first five years.
The project, which broke ground in 2014, is one of the region’s largest infrastructure investments under Xi’s rule, which has been plagued by fears of slowing economic growth, offset slightly by a construction spree.
China has sought to boost its profile as both an aviation hub and a manufacturer in recent years. The country’s first home-grown passenger jet, the C919, lifted off on its maiden flight in May, edging into a multibillion-dollar market currently dominated byBoeing Co (BA, -0.39%) and Airbus SE airbus-group-n-v .
Situated 67 km south of Beijing, the airport technically falls in neighbouring Hebei province, though it will eventually constitute its own development zone.
It will relieve pressure on Beijing’s existing international airport, to the northeast of Beijing and currently the world’s second largest by passenger volume, which opened a new terminal worth $3.6 billion in 2008 ahead of the Beijing Summer Olympics.
has a 30 per cent stake in Airports of the South (Krasnodar region), Russia, which oversees four airports in the region, including Anapa International Airport (above).PHOTO: CHANGI AIRPORTS INTERNATIONAL
Fund will help it to invest in expansion plans of airports and gain firm foothold in other markets.
Changi Airport has set up a more than US$1 billion (S$1.35 billion) kitty – partly funded by external investors – to fuel ambitious plans to export its technical and operational expertise. With airports around the world embarking on aggressive expansion and development plans, the fund will help Changi invest in this growth and establish a strong foothold in other markets, Changi Airport Group (CAG) chairman Liew Mun Leong told The Straits Times. The potential is huge, he said. “We see a lot of airports that need not just funding, but expertise. It’s an infrastructure business that is very promising given the growth of the aviation industry.”
In the last decade, Changi’s foreign investment and consultancy arm, Changi Airports International (CAI), has snared many airport consultancy and development projects in growing aviation markets including China, India, Russia, Brazil, Latin America and the Middle East. From King Fahd International Airport in Saudi Arabia to Italy’s Rome Fiumicino Airport to China’s Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, CAI has left its mark on over 50 airports in more than 20 countries.
But the returns have not been significant, industry analysts said.
While revenue grew from $18.5 million in the 2012/2013 financial year to $41 million in the 2015/2016 financial year, high operating costs, including taxes, in an already capital-intensive industry, as well as foreign exchange losses, have put pressure on profits, which fell to just $6 million during the same period.
By comparison, CAG reported after-tax profits of more than $780 million in the same year.
But with the new fund, things should start to pick up for CAI, Mr Liew said. “Now that we have more (funds) we can do more,” he said, adding that before this, there were constraints on how funds should be spent. “The Government said ‘we give you money to build Changi Airport, why are you building in Saudi Arabia and Brazil?’ Now we have external funding,” Mr Liew added. Besides Changi Airport, Malaysia Airports, Germany’s Fraport, Schiphol in the Netherlands and Turkey’s TAV are among the airports that are also keen to spread their wings overseas. In an annual roundup, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said last week that total passenger traffic grew by 7 per cent last year compared with 2015. The Asia-Pacific accounted for 35 per cent of the total market, growing 11.3 per cent year on year, while traffic in the Middle East was 9.1 per cent higher. Both are key target regions for CAI, which has a 75 per cent stake in King Abdulaziz International Airport in Saudi Arabia – its biggest investment to date. On whether there are concerns that CAI’s efforts to help other airports build and operate better could eventually impact Changi’s competitiveness, Mr Liew said: “People ask me this and I tell them that it’s not a zero-sum game.” Working with airports globally gives the Changi team a better understanding of industry dynamics and challenges, he said. “We know (first-hand) what’s happening in Brazil, Abu Dhabi, China, India, because we are there, working with them. We see how they operate, how they are growing, the challenges they face,” Mr Liew said, adding that such experiences provide invaluable lessons for the Singapore team. Such ventures also provide a good opportunity for Changi to work directly with airlines based in overseas markets to promote air links and services to and from Singapore, Mr Liew said. “At the end of the day, if we can mobilise the competency and expertise of Changi Airport – the best airport in the world – we can make a lot of money,” he said.
Sydney Airport’s new technology strategy starting to pay off
Australia’s busiest airport currently handles 42.5 million passengers and as traffic continues to grow, technology is playing an increasingly important role in ensuring that both the customer experience and operational efficiency improve at Sydney Airport.
A new technology strategy, which was devised following the appointment of Stuart Rattray as General Manager Technology in 2015, is at the centre of these efforts.
“We started our new technology strategy with a view to having the customer experience at the core, but we also recognised that there are other stakeholders involved in that customer experience and how we deliver value to our customers,” Rattray told FTE.
Like many others, Sydney Airport has been investing in self-service technologies such as kiosks and bag drops, but the approach to using open data is certainly a more distinctive element of its plans. As part of this “open data strategy”, as Rattray terms it, Sydney Airport has just become the first organisation outside of China to introduce the indoor Baidu Maps app to better help passengers navigate the airport’s terminals. Popular among Chinese consumers, the app provides intuitive navigation at various public venues across China. Now, Sydney Airport has been added to the list, adding value to those passengers flying to any of the 15 Chinese destinations served from Sydney.
“The thinking behind this is really recognising that we as an airport don’t have a direct channel to all of our customers,” Rattray explained.
“More than 42 million passengers go through our terminals every year. We have a lot of very, very useful information and data that our customers would love to get and we don’t always have a direct channel to them. So, we asked ‘how do we get that information to our customers through whichever channel they choose to use?’”
Sydney Airport recently became the first organisation outside of China to introduce the indoor Baidu Maps app.
Having worked with Google to add Sydney Airport to Google Indoor Maps, it quickly became apparent that the platform adds limited value to Chinese travellers, who instead tend to use Baidu Maps for navigation. Sally Fielke, General Manager Corporate Affairs at Sydney Airport, explained that integration with Baidu was part of a “very deliberate attempt to get information that’s useful to our customers through whichever channel they choose to use”.
“I would much rather have useful information in front of 80% of our customers on their journey (through third-party channels), than useful info through our own channel getting to only 10% of them,” Rattray added.
Real-time and relevant information
Next on the ‘to do’ list is to make it easy for Sydney Airport’s airline partners to add real-time queuing information to their own apps to help relieve anxiety among passengers who are waiting to clear check-in, bag drop, security or immigration. The airport already provides real-time waiting information on screens in the terminal and is now in the process of making that information easily accessible via Application Programming Interfaces (APIs).
Sydney Airport uses a variety of platforms – ranging from e-directories to its mobile app – to ensure passengers have access to the information they need. Collaboration with partners will ensure that relevant information is also available through various third-party apps in the future.
Bigger plans are also in place with regards to the open data strategy. Fielke revealed that Sydney Airport plans to leverage data to simplify the “couch to gate” experience, by providing travellers with relevant information throughout their journey, from planning to departure. “We need to look at where we can collaborate and that’s something we are actively doing,” she said.
There is a recognition that a more open approach to data can deliver big benefits on a B2B level, too. Development of a community app, perhaps similar to what has been implemented at Gatwick Airport, is being considered to help ensure that all 29,000 people who work on the airport precinct have access to relevant, real-time information that can help them realise efficiency and customer experience improvements.
End-to-end biometric processing
Stuart Rattray, GM Technology, pictured here speaking at FTE Asia EXPO shortly after joining Sydney Airport in 2015, revealed that the airport is working on an end-to-end biometric-enabled passenger processing trial.
Like many of the more forward-thinking airports around the world, Sydney Airport is also exploring how the existing passenger touch-points in the terminal can be optimised.
On this front, Rattray and Fielke revealed to FTE that end-to-end biometric-enabled passenger processing will be trialled from mid-2018. This aims to allow passengers departing on international flights to complete the check-in, bag drop, security, outbound immigration and boarding processes using facial recognition technology, instead of having to present their passport and boarding pass at every checkpoint.
Rattray explained that biometric-enabled passenger processing is an attractive proposition for a number of reasons. Firstly, it has the potential to both enhance security and create a more seamless customer experience. Secondly, it will allow for more efficient use of the existing terminal space and infrastructure. Thirdly, it can align the requirements of the airlines and the airport, who have a shared desire to improve the overall travel experience.
Rattray also revealed that more than one approach will likely be tested, with both onsite and offsite biometric enrolment to be considered as part of the trial. Fielke added: “It’ll probably happen in parts but one day there will be that joined up approach, end-to-end.”
It is this joined up approach that will play a crucial role in improving the customer experience and optimising efficiency at Sydney Airport in the coming months and years. From the open data strategy to the collaboration with airlines to explore end-to-end biometric processing, Rattray, Fielke and their colleagues are refreshingly willing to embrace collaboration to deliver benefits to the most important customers of all: the passengers.
Passengers will no longer have to wait in line at security counters or pass through e-gates, instead walking through a tunnel that scans people’s faces.
Dubai airport security tunnel.
Travellers departing from Dubai will no longer need to pass through any sort of security clearance counter or e-gate, they will simply walk through a virtual aquarium tunnel that will scan their face or iris using hidden cameras while they’re in motion.
The tunnel, which will display high-quality images of an aquarium, will be equipped with about 80 cameras set up in every corner and the idea came about after 18 months of brainstorming.
The move is one of several new security measures taken by Dubai aviation officials, such as replacing the explosive detection scanners with new, Chinese-made ones that can detect a wider range of explosive materials.
“The fish is a sort of entertainment and something new for the traveller but, at the end of the day, it attracts the vision of the travellers to different corners in the tunnel for the cameras to capture his/her face print,” said Major Gen Obaid Al Hameeri, deputy director general of Dubai residency and foreign affairs.
“The virtual images are of very high quality and gives a simulation of a real-life aquarium.”
The tunnel display can also be altered to offer other natural settings, such as the desert, or even to display adverts.
At the end of the tunnel, if the traveller is already registered, they will either receive a green message that says “have a nice trip” or, if the person is wanted for some reason, a red sign will alert the operations room to interfere.
Emiratis, GCC citizens and the UAE residents who use the smart gates will no longer have to queue at the boarding gates.
If you’re travelling first class or business, a soon-to-be-implemented project will allow you to go straight to boarding gate without undergoing immigration check at Dubai airports.
The ongoing Gitex Technology Week revealed that two future projects and one currently being implemented will make travelling smooth and smart at Dubai airports.
There is another future project that will allow passengers to finish immigration check under 15 seconds by walking through a ‘smart tunnel’ without the need of presenting their passport.
And a system currently implemented on a limited basis allows travellers to fly even without their passports or boarding pass as long as they have their smartphone.
Speaking to Khaleej Times at the Gitex Technology Week in Dubai on Monday, Capt Amer Rashed Almheiri, general directorate of residency and foreign affairs (GDRFA) director of smart application department, said as part of the Dubai 10X Initiative, a futuristic project will allow a traveller to ride an e-car, equipped with immigration checks.
“There is a camera inside the car that uses facial recognition, which is connected to smart immigration gates at the check-in areas.
“All information are captured, including passport details and the boarding pass will be sent to the counter. The traveller will not have to go through the immigration and can go straight to the lounge and the boarding gate,” he said.
“What is more amazing is that there is a weighing scale and scanner at the boot of the car so the baggage will be weighed, scanned for any prohibited materials and after passing the scanning will go straight to the cargo area of the plane,” Almheiri added.
The United Arab Emirates wants to run the world’s first drone taxi service
to lead the Arab world in innovation. The first drone taxi service showcased last week in Dubai. The flying taxi was developed by German drone firm Volocopter. It is made up of a two-seater helicopter cabin and a wide hoop studded with 18 propellers on the top. The maiden test run was performed in a ceremony for the Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed.
