5 ways to manage rapid growth

Paul Willis, head of aviation at international built asset consultancy EC Harris, explains the challenges surrounding the improvements planned for air traffic management across the Middle East.

Given the rapid growth achieved over the last 30 years it is easy to forget that the Middle East is still relatively young when compared with more established economies such as Europe and North America.

Recent data released by the Airport Councils International (ACI) underlines the rate at which the region has developed, with 200 million people estimated to have travelled through airports across the Middle East in 2011 alone.

In many respects the speed of the expansion could also be a potential barrier to the region’s future growth as the associated infrastructure may not be able to develop at a comparable rate.

In the aviation sector this challenge is particularly evident as airlines, including Emirates and Etihad, need airport infrastructure that can match their ambitious plans. The need to align business requirements is essential if this growth is to be realised.

Currently Emirates has 162 aircraft with a further 234 on order. However, existing capacity constraints at Dubai International Airport may restrict the airline to 260 until 2025, at which point extra space is expected to become available.

It is no surprise, then, to see multiple airports across the GCC actively planning major capacity upgrade schemes. This extra space will be vital if the region is to capitalise on the economic opportunities that will be created by increased visitors.

However, a greater focus will also be required in terms of how they manage air traffic if the benefits of improved airport infrastructure are to be fully realised. As cities such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha or Jeddah seek to establish themselves as strategic stop-off destinations and gateways between Europe and Asia, operators need to ensure their approach to air traffic management (ATM) is as sophisticated, efficient and comprehensive as possible.

Five key areas to focus on include:

1. Servicing the long-term capacity forecasts:

Increased social mobility, a burgeoning middle-class and the rise of low-cost airlines have all meant that the number of people travelling by air has grown significantly since the turn of the millennium.

In the Middle East this growth is expected to remain unchecked over the next 20 years with the ACI predicting that by 2029 almost 450 million people will travel through the region.

The ultimate constraint for service providers across the GCC will be the airspace surrounding the asset. Ensuring a seamless transfer between flight information regions (FIR) and national airspace boundaries will be essential. The need for collaborative decision making (CDM) to improve communication between all service providers will be key to delivering a safe and efficient operation.

Getting ATM right will be crucial in ensuring that the airspace can service the projected long-range capacity forecast and that the benefits of expensive new-build schemes are fully realised.

2. Adhering to a fully-developed master-plan:

Building on the previous point, a common element in a best-practice approach to ATM is getting all stakeholders to buy into and understand a unifying vision.

While this makes sense, in practice it often becomes a challenging proposition because the various parties within an airport operating environment are responding to very different drivers. For example, operators need to develop a masterplan for the future of the airport over the next 30 years while the air traffic control team will typically not look beyond the next day or week of operations.

The key performance indicators against which each team is judged are markedly different, yet their ability to successfully carry out their jobs is intrinsically linked.

Master planning and ATM will play a vital function in helping to ensure all parties strike a balance between their immediate responsibilities and their capacity to contribute towards the future growth of the airport. Having everyone heading towards a shared vision will better enable the airport to deliver on its ambitious growth plans without compromising the ability to deliver a safe and efficient passenger experience.

3. Ensuring all stakeholders are aligned:

Whilst master planning maps out a long-term vision, there is an equally important need to ensure that stakeholders work closely together on a daily basis. The complexity of the operating environment means that teams can end up focusing too much on their own particular area of responsibility and work in silos rather than in a joined-up manner that enables them to mutually support each function.

From an ATM perspective this can be a real concern as, while the air traffic control team’s primary responsibility will always be to ensure that flights leave and arrive safely, they also need to know that staff on the ground are capable of dealing with the next phase of play.

In more simple terms, a prompt take-off or landing will mean nothing if their taxi time to the terminal is lengthy or if passenger luggage is misrouted. Without this open line of communication and mutual understanding of each-other’s roles, inefficiencies can quickly develop and it becomes difficult to ensure the passenger enjoys a seamless experience from the moment they arrive at an airport until they reach their destination.

4. Deploying technology to improve operations:

Globally the aviation industry is pushing for technology to play a more influential role in helping to manage air traffic more efficiently. With traffic predicted to grow particularly rapidly across the MENA region, the benefits of technology will be welcome. Some of the key technologies include:

* Automatic dependent surveillance (ADS): The ICAO has defined standard and recommended practices (SARPs) and technical specifications for this secondary surveillance radar (SSR)-based equipment and trials are now being conducted in the USA. This surveillance tool includes a collision avoidance capability and is particularly useful in areas where traditional ATC radars cannot be commissioned, like the North Atlantic and Pacific routes. Initial plans suggest use in en-route airspace. However, application closer to the aerodrome would further enhance safety.

* Airborne separation assurance system (ASAS): This system is designed to provide enhanced situational awareness to the flight crew to enable them to better appreciate traffic in their vicinity and take actions necessary to remain separated; in a missed approach, for example, the flight crew may be able to keep the speed of their aircraft in a range that allows separation with traffic ahead. Issues around division of responsibilities between ATC and the flight crew are currently being considered. However, initially it is planned for use in the en-route phase only, although it is probable that its use will be extended after a period of operational usage.

* Precision runway monitor (PRM): This is currently defined as a specialized SSR system that monitors aircraft conducting simultaneous independent instrument approaches to parallel runways spaced less than 1,525m (5,000ft) but not less than 1,035m (3,400ft) apart. Additional safety gains can be made with the use of this equipment at runway spacings in excess of 1,525m, as it enables the early detection of traffic that starts to deviate from a runway centreline.

* Multi-alteration radar: Multi-lateral radar systems can help to eliminate the technical failings of conventional primary surveillance radars. These systems have a faster aerial rotation rate than primary radar (i.e. one second against four seconds for approach radar) and this increased refresh rate tracks heading changes more quickly, providing a controller with good warning of a potential problem occurring. This is particularly useful when detecting a missed approach or an aircraft starting to deviate from a centre-line or nominal track.

* Required navigation performance (RNP-RNAV): Implementation strategies for area navigation (RNAV) started with the basic RNAV (B-RNAV) in 1998. However, containment values of +/-5nm were agreed to be insufficient for terminal airspace purposes and so precision RNAV (P-RNAV) has become the voluntary standard. Taken as a whole P-RNAV will materially contribute to track-keeping and RNP-RNAV will further enhance safety, particularly in the missed approach phase and the departure phase, by preventing an aircraft from drifting from the nominal flight path.

5. Minimising the environment impact:

Traditionally, airport operators across the MENA region have been under less pressure than their global counterparts to consider their environmental impact. However, as traffic continues to grow and new legislation comes into force, they will have to develop strategies around proactively seeking to limit carbon emission levels.

Better ATM can drastically reduce the time aircraft spend circling waiting for a window to land or taxiing waiting for a signal that they can take-off.

That said, environmental savings made during take-off and landing could be quickly negated by inefficiencies within other parts of the operation. For example, ground handlers must deliver as quick a turnaround as possible and ground vehicle circulation between the terminal and the air fleet also needs to be optimised.

When airports were first built across the Middle East, operators were quick to spot the importance of ATM. However, this approach needs to be reassessed as the challenge facing them continues to evolve.

With two billion people now located within two-and-a-half hours of the Middle East by air and 80% of the world’s population within eight hours, the demands placed on aviation infrastructure has grown considerably in a short space of time.

If the region is to capitalise on this positive momentum and truly consolidate its position as a strategic gateway between the West and the East, then it’s absolutely critical that it can manage and service this growing demand. Now is the time to make improvements to their existing operations for in ten years time it will be too late.