AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT International News Each Issue of Airport Development Focuses on a Different Region of the World, with Global News at the End of This Section
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Page 1 of 12 25 April 2020 No. 1119 DEV Published biweekly – available by annual subscription only – www.mombergerairport.info Editorial office / Subscriptions Phone: +1 519 833 4642 e-mail: [email protected] Managing Editor / Publisher: Martin Lamprecht [email protected] News Editor: Paul Ellis [email protected] – Founding Editor: Manfred Momberger Momberger Airport Information by Air Trans Source Inc. – international news & data – published since 1973 AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT International News Each issue of Airport Development focuses on a different region of the world, with global news at the end of this section. A list of past focus regions published in recent years can be downloaded from the Bonus section in the subscriber pages of our website. Focus Region: Central Europe - 1 LITHUANIA Vilnius International Airport had planned a major expansion, including the construction of a new terminal to serve increasing passenger traffic. The proposed Departures terminal would boost the airport’s operational and technological capabilities, while improving the range of non-aviation services. The airport expansion project was scheduled to start in the second half of 2020 and was expected to be completed in the second half of 2022. A contractor to undertake the construction was expected to be selected by mid-2020. The new terminal would be a two-storey building with over 14,400 m² of space. The total area of the passenger terminal was expected to increase by 33% and the passenger-handling capacity would grow from 1,200 per hour to 2,400 passengers upon completion of the project. The terminal would be situated between the existing passenger terminal and a new VIP terminal, already under construction. It would feature engineering systems, baggage screening and sorting at the centre of the building. A self-service check-in area for passengers will be created on the ground floor. The building would also feature shared public spaces, cafes, airline offices and other commercial areas. The second floor would be equipped with a security screening area and a departure gate to serve passengers from the Schengen area. Communication between the terminals would be carried out smoothly as the new building would be well connected to the existing gallery. The expansion project would also involve the reorganization of landside transport access to the airport and would include the upgrade of engineering networks, replacement of pavements, development of improved transport scheme, and the installation of canopies. The new two-storey VIP terminal along with a conference centre is under construction in the northern part of the airport. The first floor of the building includes areas for security screening of VIPs, state border check procedures and waiting lounges. The second floor houses a conference centre, while the basement includes technical and auxiliary premises. In February 2020, Lithuanian Airports adopted additional arrangements to address the risk posed by the corona virus outbreak. Health checks will be performed on all passengers arriving from infected regions. Passengers are sent to Sector B of the Arrivals terminal for testing and consultation to contain the spread of the pandemic. Vilnius Airport will also get a new baggage management system, a baggage screening system, and self- service drop-off areas. The baggage system will be able to handle 2,400 units per hour upon commissioning and will comply with the international ECAC Standard 3 for baggage screening. It will have a conveyor belt, a four-level checked-in baggage screening system, and new X-ray machines with advanced explosives detection system (EDS). A modern multifunctional car-parking area was opened in January 2020 at the airport to meet long-term parking needs. Operated by Unipark, the parking lot has approximately 1,000 new parking spaces, heated exit lanes for de-icing,and electric charging stations. The carpark will also include a car rental centre, which will accommodate seven service providers. Copyright © 2020 - Momberger Airport Information - www.mombergerairport.info Page 2 of 12 25 April 2020 No. 1119 DEV Vilnius Airport will undertake the reconstruction of a part of the apron at the north side to increase the safety of flights and enable improved aircraft movement and parking. There will also be an advanced aircraft service infrastructure. With an estimated investment of EUR 17.3 million, construction was expected to start in the second half of 2020 for completion by 2021. The northern apron reconstruction project will include the installation of new asphalt paving, new lights and surveillance system, and marking of parking areas. Contractors involved in the expansion projects include Sweco Lietuva Company, providing design proposals for the northern apron; Eikos Statyba was selected to construct the new VIP terminal; Vilniaus Architektūros Studija was awarded a contract to design the underground area of the VIP building. #1119.1 In 2019, the number of passengers and flights increased at all three Lithuanian Airports, with the highest increase at the Kaunas and Palanga airports. The airport network offered as many as 92 destinations. Even though the growth of the aviation market lost some speed in 2019 in most of the European countries, Lithuanian Airports retained stable growth rates. The rates were influenced by a successfully implemented destination development strategy, involving also other groups of interested parties – municipalities, business organizations and associations, organizations representing the State abroad. Another component of success was the uninterrupted and successful negotiations with the airlines. On reviewing the 2019 results, Aurimas Stikliūnas, the head of the Aviation Services Division of Lithuanian Airports, claimed that Kaunas Airport was the most surprising in Lithuania, since its passenger growth – to 1.1 million - reached as much as 15% over 2018. “Such growth rate is the highest not only in Lithuania, but in the whole region as well, exceeding that of Riga, Tallinn, and Warsaw. The biggest contribution came from the new flights to Cologne/Bonn and Nürnberg in Germany, also from charter flights which were started for the first time in the airport’s history. We are expecting Kaunas Airport to maintain high passenger growth rates in the future,” commented A. Stikliūnas before the corona outbreak. Also, for the first time in history, Vilnius Airport exceeded the threshold of 5 million passengers (+2%) within one calendar year. The expansion of the scope of activities was essentially determined by four new flights to London City, Eilat, Kharkov, and Southend. Moreover, a new airline company - Laudamotion - started its flights. The higher number of transported passengers in Vilnius was also influenced by the fact that the flights to certain destinations became more frequent and larger aircraft were used. The frequency of flights was increased to Istanbul, Stockholm, Vienna, and Tel Aviv. Moreover, AirBaltic started flights using new Airbus aircraft which have more seats than older Boeing aircraft. In 2019, Palanga Airport also witnessed growth. The indicator with the best improvement was the number of flights, which increased by 12%, growing faster than that of passengers. Such change was determined by two new and strategically important flights to Dortmund and Bergen, as well as the increased frequency to Riga. -- The development of cargo transport by air also contributed to the successful activity at all three airports, increasing by a total of 7% and comprising almost 17,200 tonnes, with Vilnius servicing 14,000 tonnes of the total. #1119.2 POLAND Solidarity Transport Hub (STH) Poland [Centralny Port Komunikacyjny, CPK] is a planned transfer hub between Warsaw and Łódź thatwill integrate air, rail and road transport. The development envisages the construction of Solidarity Airport located 37 km west of Warsaw and covering the space of 3,000 hectares. During the first stage, the airport would handle 45 million passengers a year. Additionally, STH would include a railway nodal point in the airport’s close vicinity, as well as connections within Poland enabling transfers between Warsaw and the largest Polish cities in less than 2.5 hours. The Copyright © 2020 - Momberger Airport Information - www.mombergerairport.info Page 3 of 12 25 April 2020 No. 1119 DEV investment should provide employment for over 150,000 people. An Airport City will be created within the STH’s region, including trade fair, congress and conference facilities as well as offices. STH, being a strategic company, would be 100% owned by the State Treasury. Under pre-corona time planning, the Solidarity Transport Hub was set to open at the end of 2027 with two runways, integrating air, rail, and road travel. In order to better understand current trends in airport design, the STH team invited nine high-profile firms, including five major architecture firms from the U.K. (Zaha Hadid, Foster + Partners, Grimshaw, Chapman Taylor, and Benoy), who have submitted design proposals for the new hub. Following the construction of two additional runways, the airport would eventually serve up to 100 million people, making it one of the world’s busiest hubs. Benoy: In April 2019, Benoy celebrated the public opening of Jewel Changi Airport in Singapore, a breath-taking 137,000-m² retail, hospitality and leisure space. For STH, the London-based practice is emphasizing ecology and sustainable development in the shape of a green ‘Airport City’ surrounding the hub, which will be served by a mixture of above-ground and subterranean railway lines and motorways. The design features a multi-modal transfer node covered by a transparent roof, where the various means of transport would form an integrated central hub where all the routes converge. “STH will grow to occupy an area larger than the entire Manhattan,” said Alan Thompson, Design Director at Benoy. “This is why Benoy presented a holistic initial proposal for the development of the airport as well as the area surrounding it.” Inside, the design blurs the boundaries between different sections of the terminal – including a smooth transition between the dining and waiting areas.