Industry news

Samsung C&T secures $1.56bn of expansion work at Taiwan Taoyuan Airport

Credit:

Project

Samsung Group’s construction unit Samsung C&T has announced that its consortium has secured a project to build a terminal at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.

Yonhap News Agency reported that the total value of the project stands at around $1.56bn.

Samsung C&T formed a consortium with Taiwan’s general construction company RSEA Engineering before undertaking this project of expansion.

The company informed that its stake in the project is worth $1.1bn, which accounts for 70%, whereas the rest is owned by RSEA Engineering.

According to the deal with the airport’s operator Taoyuan International Airport Corporation, the consortium will carry out the construction of Terminal three and a boarding building.

Covering a total floor area of 550,000m², the new terminal will have a customs clearance processing capacity of about 45 million passengers annually.

The company underlined that the project will involve high-level construction technology such as large roof steel trusses and an amorphous ceiling.

The expansion project will be completed in about 60 months.

Image: Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. Credit: Wing1990hk / Wikipedia.

Project

US FAA allocates $627.7m for airport improvement works

The US Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has allocated more than $627.7m in grants for airport improvement works. It will be used to fund infrastructure and safety projects in 390 airports located in 39 US states, as well as Puerto Rico and the Federated States of Micronesia.

The funding will be allocated through the FY2021 Airport Improvement Program.

Funded projects include the construction of a replacement airport in Newtok, Alaska, the reconstruction of runway 08/26 at Rafael Hernandez Airport in Puerto Rico, reconfiguring the existing runway of Willow Run Airport in Michigan, and construction of an apron at Salt Lake City International Airport.

Technology

SITA launches AI-based solution for lost items

Technology provider SITA has introduced the artificial intelligence-based (AI) solution WorldTracer Lost and Found Property for managing lost items on the aircraft or in airports.

The cost for handling and returning a lost item, comprising registration, handling inquiries and customer calls, storage and postage, can go up to $95.

WorldTracer Lost and Found Property is the latest option to SITA’s WorldTracer solution used in 2,200 airports, which promises to reduce the expense of returning lost items by 90%.

The WorldTracer service is a  contactless method enabling passengers to report delayed baggage from a mobile device.

sustainability

Swedavia implements fossil-free airport operations

Swedavia AB, the owner and operator of ten Swedish airports, has announced that its airport operations across Sweden have become fossil-free.

It will now provide support to other corporations and organisations at its airports for transforming operations.

According to the company’s annual and sustainability report 2020, Swedavia has become one of the first airport operators globally to implement fossil-free operations.

About ten years ago, the company’s combined airport operations produced about 8,000t of fossil carbon dioxide annually. Over the last few years, the company has taken several measures to cut down its carbon footprint in a systematic way.

Swedavia became climate-neutral in 2006 and in 2011 it decided to cut down its fossil emissions to zero by the end of 2020. In January 2017, Ronneby Airportbecame the first to achieve this goal, followed by Visby Airport and Luleå Airport in 2018.

Operations

Lithuanian Airports deploys new management and display systems

Lithuanian Airports has installed new airport management and information display systems at its three airports, Vilnius, Kaunas and Palanga to upgrade airport operations management and enhance efficiency.

The new airport management system has been developed and deployed by SITA.

The three airports were earlier using separate operations management systems. The new system receives flight updates from standard aviation feeds and processes them automatically, resulting in increased operational efficiency.

This system will help the airport operators to make decisions on time and allot airport resources like check-in desks, boarding gates and baggage claim belts without human intervention.

regulation

London Southend Airport to compensate neighbouring property holders

London Southend Airport has received an order from the Upper Tribunal’s Lands Chamber to reimburse the owners of neighbouring houses over the noise caused by a runway extension.

The BBC reported that this comes after several property holders near the airport claimed that the value of their properties was reduced after the extension began operating in 2012.

The airport denied these claims but nine of them were upheld by the Upper Tribunal’s Lands Chamber, which instructed the airport to pay out £86,500 in compensation.

After 190 homeowners near the airport submitted their claims under the Land Compensation Act 1973, ten exemplar cases were considered by the court.

Covid-19

Indira Gandhi Airport starts random testing amid surge in Covid-19 cases

Indira Gandhi International Airport in India has started conducting random Covid-19 tests of passengers as the number of coronavirus cases is on the rise again in the country. The tests will be conducted on passengers arriving at the airport by the District Disaster Management Authorities. Passengers who test positive will be quarantined at their place of stay or at hospitals.

Mumbai airport starts penalising Covid-19 protocol violators

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, India has started penalising Covid-19 safety protocol violators as the country battles to contain the second wave of coronavirus. A Rs1,000 ($13.64) fine will be imposed on those individuals who will refuse to wear face masks or violate social distancing norms. Further non-compliance will invite stricter action.

EIA launches Covid-19 screening programme for employees

Edmonton International Airport in Canada has launched a Covid-19 screening pilot programme for front-line airport workers in preparation for an expected increase in travel. The airport has partnered with Alberta Health Services and mobile medical service provider Numi Health for introducing this initiative under its EIA Ready programme. Numi will administer rapid antigen tests, which will require less than 30 minutes to produce results.

All Nippon Airways trials digital health passports

All Nippon Airways has carried out a trial of CommonPass digital health passports for Covid-19 test results and vaccination status at Haneda International Airport in Tokyo, Japan. News agency Xinhua reported that passengers used their smartphones to produce their negative Covid-19 test results at a check-in counter before taking a flight to New York.

Contracts

Selex ES to install AeroBOSS RIWS at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport

Selex ES, the US subsidiary of Leonardo, has secured a contract from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport to install AeroBOSS Runway Incursion Warning System (RIWS) to reduce the risk of runway incursions. The company will be responsible for the supply of hardware and software along with the integration of RIWS technology in 500 vehicles.

Sterling secures additional contract for Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport

Sterling Construction subsidiary J. Banicki Construction (JBC) has secured a $10.5m contract from the City of Phoenix Aviation Department and the Federal Aviation Administration for additional work at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Arizona. JBC will be responsible for a share of the apron work at Terminal 4 South One concourse as part of the final stage of the $71m project, which was commenced by Sterling Construction in 2015 and involves the construction of a new concrete aircraft apron around Terminal 4 South.

Denver City Council sanctions $112m in contracts for Denver Airport

Denver City Council in Colorado, US, has sanctioned nearly $112m for 11 construction and maintenance contracts at Denver International Airport. The contract awards include $20m each for Hensel Phelps Construction, Turner Construction, FCI Constructors, Milender White Construction and PCL Construction Services. These three-year contracts include on-call general construction services such as infrastructure and facility projects in the main terminal, the lobbies, the airfield and the nearby area.