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Issue link: http://airportbusiness.epubxp.com/i/818811
SAFETY MATTERS May 2017 airportbusiness 37 Yet, ground handling safety performance also depends on factors that ground handling companies do not influence directly, and one of these is airport design. In this month's regional update on aircraft ground handling in the Asia- Pacific region, we will look at some infrastruc- tural developments that are going on at many airports in the Asia-Pacific region to cope with the booming aviation industry and specifically with how the aircraft ground handling infra- structure is being catered for. One of the main design criteria that airports in the Asia-Pacific region are following is an attempt to prevent the constraints that exist at many older large airports and contribute to make ground damage more likely, such as close stands. "Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) is committed to upholding high standards in oper- ational safety. To achieve this, we strictly follow all aviation safety regulations and procedures, which cover all parts of HKIA's operations on the airfield and on the apron. Airport design should include the early installation of infrastructure that encourages ground equipment pooling amongst ground handling agents. For example, provision of charging units at parking stands to facilitate elec- tric ground equipment pooling will significantly reduce the ramp vehicular and equipment traffic and contribute to a greener airport. Meanwhile, the designs of HKIA not only consider the ICAO requirements, but also the flexibility to cater for different new aircraft types such as A380, B747-8, A350 and B787," a spokesperson for HKIA says. "For example, in the Midfield Concourse, which has been fully operational since March 2016, sufficient space is provided at each parking stand for a wide range of aircraft types and also for equipment manoeuvring and aircraft servicing. There are also strict and long stand- ing guidelines for operators to observe when manoeuvring their ground service equipment to ensure the safety." HKIA's Midfield Concourse is located west of Terminal 1 between the two existing runways and it has an area of 410,000 square meters. The Midfield Concourse has the capacity to serve an additional 10 million passengers every year. With an area of 105,000 square meters, it provides 20 parking stands and con- nects with Terminal 1 via an extension of the automated people mover system. HKIA also aims to build a third runway to handle future traffic demands estimated at 102 million passengers, 8.9 million tons of cargo and 607,000 aircraft movements per year by 2030. The project will see the reclamation of approx- imately 650 hectares of land north of the exist- ing airport island, bounded by approximately 13.4 km of seawall. "The safety and security of staff, stakeholders and infrastructure is Perth Airport's top prior- ity. This has resulted in the implementation of ground support activities that create and main- tain a safe environment on Perth Airport operated aprons. New aircraft stands have been designed to alleviate the risk of damage to aircrafts and ground support equipment (GSE). They include fixed ground power units and pre-conditioned air systems which are underslung on aerobridges to Photo courtesy of HKIA