Air China's - Orient Aviation

SPECIAL REPORTAirportsTime to simplifyBy Charles AndersonWith the first wave ofnew c on s t r u c t ionin the region eitherout of the way or inthe pipeline, airportdevelopers should now be looking at moresimplified systems that can cut down oncosts, according to airport planner anddesigner Oren Tatcher.Tatcher is an associate partner withSOM, the U.S.- based i nter nat ionalarchitectural and planning company, whichhas extensive experience in airport mattersworldwide including theAsia-Pacific. He is currentlywork i ng on p roje c t s atHong Kong InternationalAirport. Singapore ChangiInternational Airport andNinoy Aquino InternationalAirport, in Manila, are alsoon SOM’s reference list.The Asia-Pacific has itsown way of doing things, itseems.“What’s happening hereis very different from what’shappening elsewhere in theworld,” he said.Firstly, in the past, theregion was playing catch-upafter lagging behind in termsof airport infrastructure, heargued.“The most impor tantthing you see is just the construction ofsignificant new facilities to accommodateincreasing volume, as well as to upgradefacilities that existed before,” he said.“That wave has been sweeping throughthe region for the last 10 years and is ongoing.Now it is moving to China, from first-tiercities to second and third-tier cities.”Secondly, just about every main airportis international, meaning both domesticand international passengers must beprocessed.In North America, most passengerflows co-mingle in the same concourse,g r e atly si mpl i f y i ng t e r m i n a larrangements. Some of the more forwardthinkingregional facilities have taken thepoint. In Singapore, for instance, where thereis no domestic traffic, there is still a mix ofarrivals and departures until those flying outget to their gates.But elsewhere, and in China in particular,strict separation can add to the complicationsand the cost.“Airports are about circulation, waitingand processing. The processing factor inAsian airports is higher certainly than inNorth America and to an extent than inEurope. There is room for simplificationthat hasn’t taken place yet, although it wouldHong Kong International Airport: unveiled in 1998, it was oneof the first of the new wave of airports to open in Asiasignificantly reduce the capital investment insome airports,” said Tatcher.Asia’s thinking, it appears, is still linkedin some instances to a time when travel wasan exotic experience involving far awayplaces.“The premium you paid wasn’t sosignificant and the hassle wasn’t such abig deal. But when you have volumes, youwant things to start functioning more likebus terminals,” he said. “Certainly low-costcarriers should be interested in that model.”‘Consultant doubts low-cost terminalswill become widespread in the region’“There’s room for simplification andstreamlining of the processing, but that’s avery slow business and it can have more todo with governments than the way airportsthemselves are run.”Such efficiencies will become moreimportant if growth is constrained byenvironmental concerns and a basic lackof land.“Airports have such an enormous footprintand it’s a hostile footprint. Greenfields don’treally exist any more. People are probablygoing to be dislocated to make room forthem,” said Tatcher.“There will be a limit to that. Thenyou will start looking tosqueeze the most out of yourfacilities.” And that is wherestreamlining the processescomes in.Tatcher has doubts aboutwhether low-cost terminals,a s s u c h , w i l l b e c o m ewidespread in the region,despite the opening of suchfacilities in Singapore andKuala Lumpur.Many new airports, thatare the source of much civicpride, have spare capacityas it is.But the same does not goPhoto: Graham Udenfor multiple airports servingthe same conurbation. “Incities where new airportsare being built, you maystar t seeing some sor tof differentiation; first- class airport,second-class airport,” said Tatcher.Asia’s love affair with widebodies alsomakes it stand apart from the rest of theworld.“The fact that many carriers in this regionare only widebody airlines is a bizarrething,” said Tatcher. “It may well graduallydisappear, then we will start seeing moreof the specialisation that happens in NorthAmerica.”Diverse gate mixes are already beginningto be implemented with concoursesdedicated to both small and wideraircraft.52 ORIENT AVIATION MAY 2006