317 speakers. Three full days of discussion. No less than 13 dedicated sessions. Over 1,000 delegates expected to attend. This year’s Passenger Terminal Conference, taking place March 10-12 in Paris, France, is shaping up to be the biggest and best yet.
The Airport Design, Planning & Development session, running across all three days of the conference, is traditionally one of the most popular, drawing hundreds of delegates keen to hear the latest airport expansion plans.
This year looks likely to be no exception: some 42 speakers are taking to the stage, drawn from across the global aviation industry. And there’s also a dedicated Airport Design, Planning & Development – Middle East & Asia session running concurrently on the second day of the conference – with a further 17 speakers.
Aeroports de Paris’ chairman and CEO, Augustin de Romanet, kicks things off on Day 1 with a speech entitled ‘Ensuring long-term airport management in a dubious environment’.
“The management and planning of airports depends heavily on projections of the future needs of a wide range of stakeholders: clients – both airlines and passengers – local and national government, regulators and neighbors,” he said.
De Romanet is followed by his colleague, Dominique Chavanne, airport planning director at Aéroports de Paris, who is in charge of planning the future at Paris airports. “My presentation will show some of the future developments under evaluation at Paris airports, as planned by the engineers and architects in charge of these projects,” he commented. “This will include discussion of future ground access to Charles de Gaulle (CDG) and Orly airports; hub development at CDG Airport; future development plans for Orly Airport; and ideas for future terminal concepts.”
Munich Airport’s Philipp Ahrens is next on stage, presenting a paper entitled ‘New Satellite Building Terminal 2 Munich Airport’, which will give an outline of the new building, highlighting the complexity of constructing such a huge project in the middle of the apron while maintaining operations.
This will act as an appetizer for a mini-session later in the afternoon, dedicated to the ‘science’ of ORAT (Operational Readiness and Airport Transfer). Ahrens’ colleague, Ralf Gaffal, vice-president of international business at Munich Airport, will discuss what is needed for a successful ORAT project deliver, the primary benefits of ORAT, and lessons learned at Munich Airport. He will be joined by Reinhard Zeiler, general manager of On-Block GmbH, which recently gave strategic advice for the operational readiness of Guarulhos International Airport, São Paulo, Brazil. More ORAT experience will be shared by Fraport AG’s project director, Alexander Larisch, via a presentation entitled ‘What is ORAT and why is it so important?’
“Successful implementation of a capital program is dependent on how smoothly a new or renovated facility is commissioned and integrated into daily operations,” commented conference chair, John Mok, principal (aviation), Jacobs. “Attendees of the session on ORAT will gain in-depth understanding of this critical phase of implementation and benefit from the ‘lessons learned’ at other airports.”
Day 1 also sees three expert speakers from the USA gathered together in a session after the morning break: Mario Diaz, director of aviation, Houston Airport System; Thomas L Bosco, director of aviation, Port Authority of New York & New Jersey; and Wayne Grotheer, director, Aviation Project Management Group, Port of Seattle will all make individual presentations on their latest development plans for their respective facilities.
And before the ORAT session concludes the day, the session immediately after lunch explores the theme of collaboration and partnership. “As air travel becomes more of a commodity, we are faced with the challenges of congestion in both airspace and in the various passenger processes in the terminal,” explained Arup’s strategic aviation advisor, Jim Robinson. “As we try to overcome these challenges and strive towards the airport of the future, the industry needs to overcome a fundamental challenge, namely, the need for collaboration among stakeholders. This is the core roadblock to achieving real advances in airport development.”
Elliott Black, director, Office of Airport Planning and Programming – Federal Aviation Administration, plans to make a similar case: “My presentation will focus on the importance of taking an integrated approach to airport facility planning with consideration of business, capital financing and revenue management; customer service and stakeholder involvement; environmental considerations; and effectively balancing demand and capacity to achieve long-term sustainable results,” he said.
And that’s just Day 1! To see what days two and three hold for the Design, Planning & Development session, please see the online program and to register for your pass, please click here.